


Omegagrade

by somethinginbetween



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Angst, Dragons, Everything Burns, F/F, F/M, I'm Sorry, M/M, More tags to be added, Slow Burn, Well - Freeform, when I say slow burn I kinda mean fast burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:47:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 41,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4057132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethinginbetween/pseuds/somethinginbetween
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crowd stirred restlessly. There hadn’t been a good fight in months. Hundreds of people had shown up, and two alphas were about to rip each other to shreds.<br/>Or the one where the A/B/O verse is really fucked up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And so it begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So I actually began writing this last year and every time I thought of publishing it I kinda wanted to die, but with the help of my amazing beta Linda I actually managed to upload it. Follow her on Tumblr at https://www.tumblr.com/search/fuckyeahmusearmy  
> Does anyone watch Teen Wolf? A lot of the A/B/O dynamics follow a lot of what is explained in Teen Wolf.  
> Note: The first chapter mainly consists of a fight scene and a rape scene. Read at your own risk.

Merlin and Arthur had gotten to know each other quite well over the last few months when Arthur had threatened Merlin’s pack. No peace treaty had been struck, in fact it could be said that Merlin and Arthur had barely tried, for their first meeting had ended with fists. So to say this could have been avoided would be quite correct. But unfortunately, it had come to this. It was unsurprising, but still unfortunate. Whoever won this would win the other’s pack and gain respect from the different werewolf clans spread across the country. The loser would lose their dignity, their status and belong to the winner. Either way, it ended today.

Merlin glanced over at his pack. Gwen, Gwaine, and Freya. They were not a particularly large pack, but it was his pack all the same. He would not let Pendragon take them. He would not let Pendragon take him either. The crowd grew louder and he heard a voice off to the side, “They’re growing restless.” Merlin did his best to ignore it and focused on controlling his breathing. He would win this. He had to.

Arthur knew he was going to win this. He couldn’t afford not to. He couldn’t afford to even think about failure. He was going to win. Plain and simple. His pack was better than Merlin’s could ever hope to be. He could not lose. For them as much as him. He heard the horn blast somewhere off to his left and was released by the two men previously holding him. He unsheathed his claws.

The horn blared and the two Alphas were released. The crowd, who had once chattered and cheered, grew deathly silent as they circled each other. The only rule to this game was that you could not kill your opponent. That rule had been broken before, much like the person’s neck. Merlin attacked first, faking left and swiping right. Arthur dodged each easily and retaliated with a swipe of claws, aimed at Merlin’s stomach. Merlin sensed it, and darted out of the way with a millimeter to spare. The crowd shifted uneasily. 

Merlin felt adrenaline pulsing through his veins. He was dying to look over at his pack, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off his opponent. Arthur had muscles, but he wasn’t slow. He wasn’t slow but Merlin was still quicker than Arthur could ever hope to be. Merlin wasn’t entirely weak as he was lanky, but he wasn’t exactly a pillar of strength. Weaknesses. It was unfortunate that they had only talked through a mediator after their disastrous first meeting, because if he was to win this fight, he had to find a weakness. Merlin’s only advantage right now was quickness and wit. He had to stop his thoughts there, because Arthur was advancing on him and he had no wish to have his arm sliced off.

Merlin swiveled, raising his hands in a defensive position. Arthur turned to face him. Merlin threw a blow and Arthur blocked. They met again, claws out, once, twice, a testing. Merlin backed off a step. Arthur followed, trying a slash, but Merlin jerked back, just out of reach, and the blow cut only air. Merlin circled to his right. Arthur followed him with his eyes, yet was absolutely still. Merlin waited. There was a charged silence and again Arthur attacked, but Merlin danced out of the way, circling left. Arthur tried a quick dodge at his legs, but didn’t have the reach. As he retracted his hand he felt another hand upon his arm, hard as iron and pulling him forward. Caught off guard, Arthur was flung forward onto his face. Merlin ran forward and dealt two hard blows-with claws out- to his stomach. Pain exploded in Arthur’s torso. Merlin would have dealt a third, but Arthur grabbed his foot and dragged Merlin onto the floor. He dug his claws into Merlin’s ankle and Merlin screamed with pain as the claws pierced his flesh almost an inch through. He kicked Arthur in the face and surprised, Arthur loosened his hold. Merlin scrambled away. Arthur fought off the urge to curl up in a ball and stood up. Blood was dripping from the gashes in his torso and Merlin was limping. Arthur thought that maybe he’d managed to break Merlin’s ankle. They were both breathing hard now, gasping for oxygen and not as eager to meet again. Merlin barred his teeth as made the first strike. He drove Arthur back, fighting with every inch of his body and Arthur scrambled backwards surprised at Merlin’s ability to ignore the pain from his bloody foot. Arthur managed a blow here and there, but nevertheless bore the brunt of it. Merlin aimed at his stomach, the place most vulnerable and Arthur reached down to block but then stumbled back even further as pain bloomed in his face. He was confused, lost for a moment, as the pain almost overwhelmed him. He seemed to be made of pain. Blood dripped down into his eyes and Merlin was already prepared to strike again. In that moment Arthur truly believed he could not win this. But his pack. Lance, Percy, Leon. They believed in him. They were fighting for him. He could not let them down. Merlin was already rushing toward him. He had no time to think, no time to plan. Only action. Merlin threw a vicious uppercut, and Arthur jerked backward just in time. Merlin began a kick but Arthur made his move, using the brunt of his force to knock Merlin to the ground. This time, Merlin didn’t react fast enough and Arthur pounced on him, pinning his arms above his head and trapping his body below his own. The crowd roared. Arthur looked down to see Merlin’s face which held a touch of fear and guilt rolled in his gut. Arthur bit down on Merlin’s neck, not deep enough to truly damage but Merlin would carry the scar for the rest of his life as a reminder of whose pack he was in. Every beta or omega who was part of a pack had the bite of the alpha. It was how werewolves knew where they belonged. An alpha himself carried no scar. Arthur looked around the stadium. People were cheering but when he glanced at his pack, they were not cheering. They knew.  
Merlin was staring at him with blue eyes. He might have enjoyed his gaze if it didn’t happen to be glaring daggers at him.

Merlin had been captured. He felt like he had been run over by a truck. He was now nothing, and as Arthur bit down on his neck he could feel all his alpha power leave him. The adrenaline was gone too. He closed his face off from emotions, not letting Arthur or anyone get the satisfaction of a whimper or a tear. Video footage of their fight would most likely be played for the next year. Fuck.  
Merlin growled as Arthur looked down at him. He could get through this. Arthur, above him, smelled of guilt and pain. All his anger and excitement gone. It made Merlin hesitate. Why would Arthur feel guilty? After all, the fight had not been unfair. Then Arthur flipped him over. The pieces clicked. And fear, true fear threatened to choke him.

Arthur reached for Merlin’s boxers. With this movement the already loud stadium grew into a cacophony. It was not unheard of, but rare for this to happen. When one alpha was bitten and on the ground, the victorious alpha would not let him up, opting for the options of Omegagrade. When this happened the victorious alpha would pull the others boxers down and essentially rape him or her. When the alpha spilled his seed and marked what was theirs, it instantaneously downgraded the the beta, to an omega.

Arthur hated every minute of it. Underneath him, Merlin was struggling to get free, panic bleeding through the previously emotionless wall. He flipped Merlin around and tore off his boxers. He didn’t exactly have lube with him, but sticking his fingers inside he felt around for the gland. Finding it rather quickly he pressed on it and was rewarded with a gush of lube. Pulling off his boxers, he quickly positioned his dick in front of Merlin’s entrance and entered him. Merlin screamed.  
Arthur did not make a show of it, and it was over soon enough, his seed spilling out. Merlin slumped down, eyes wide and unblinking. Arthur opened his mouth to say….something. Anything. But no sound came out and two paramedics came before Arthur could make a sound. 

Merlin was taken care of by an old man named Gaius. When he had first been dragged in by those two paramedics, Gaius had clucked; “Omegagrade.” It was a statement, not a question.  
“I don’t have the taste for those fights like some others do, now lie down, we’ll get you all fixed up.”  
Abandoning alpha power was hard, omegagrade was the worst thing Merlin had experienced. He could feel his power slipping from him, and as he tried to grasp back with greedy hands the further it fell away. It was almost impossible to describe. The feeling of helplessness and insecurity washing over and threatening to drown you, while you are trying desperately to stay alive. When most of it had left, he was so tired he couldn’t even summon the power to lift his head. And so he let Gaius take care of him. His pack tried to come see him, or so he heard. Gaius apparently shooed them away for which Merlin would be forever grateful. He couldn’t bear for anyone to see him like this. Couldn’t bear the pity. Merlin could smell the blood where his pac—no Arthur’s pack, had been bitten. A final insult to the injury. He’d be the omega of the pack now. Merlin chased those thoughts away. He couldn’t stomach it now. He closed his eyes. It wasn’t until he woke up that he realized he had fallen asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me writing: this is shit  
> Me editing: this is shit  
> Me posting: this is shit

Arthur had never felt more awkward in his life, which was saying something, because he had spent half of his life being dragged to flamboyant parties by his overly rich father. The pack was waiting in the waiting room, clearly divided between the newly added and the veterans. No one moved, no one spoke, no one looked at each other. Wait, no, the brown haired one who called himself Gwaine glared daggers at him. Arthur met his gaze. Gwaine looked away. They must have been waiting in what felt like an hour when the door finally opened. Everyone’s gaze shot to the door where Merlin stepped out, looking a bit worse for the wear. Cuts covered his legs and he had particularly large bandage on his arm. He was limping. Arthur winced. Merlin greeted his part of the pack first. Nothing much was said between Gwen and Freya besides murmurs and hugs, but when Gwaine came to greet Merlin, he slapped him on the back. Arthur tensed, recalling that he had thrown Merlin on his back quite viciously in that spot.  
“Sucks to suck, man.”  
“You would know.”  
Then Merlin turned to Arthur. Traditionally, Merlin would have come to Arthur first before acknowledging the rest of his pack, but he was doing it now, so Arthur let it slide.  
Bowing his head slightly, he spoke the traditional greeting, “Alpha.”  
Arthur did the same, “Pack.”  
Looking up he spoke to the rest of the new additions to his pack, “Would you care to see our house?” This part was merely tradition, now that Arthur had defeated the other pack, they would come with him, whether they liked it or not.  
Gwaine rolled his eyes, “Doesn’t look like we’ve got much of a choice.”  
Arthur gritted his teeth and was about to reply when the normally quiet Percy stepped forward.  
“Watch your mouth.”  
Gwaine looked murderously at Percy and opened his mouth when Arthur stepped between them. “Enough guys. Leon, you take Gwaine and Freya. Lance you take Merlin and Gwen. Percy, you’re with me.”  
Arthur ran his fingers through his hair. This was going to be harder than he thought.  
…  
The ride to Arthur’s house was, as expected, frigid and without discussion. Gwen and Merlin got into Lance’s car, a pickup truck. Gwen silently asked him if he was alright through a silent eyebrow raise, to which Merlin nodded yes. No other words were spoken between them. Werewolf hearing. They didn’t know Lance, despite the fact they were pack now.   
After five minutes of silence Lance opened his mouth, “So, whats your Hogwarts house?”  
Merlin, who could usually prattle on about Harry Potter for hours, stayed silent. He could still feel the alpha power, or lack of, buzzing beneath his veins just under the surface.  
Gwen saved him from the effort of speaking, “I’m a Hufflepuff. You?”  
“I’m a Hufflepuff too!”  
“Cool.”  
Lance cleared his throat, looking as if he wanted to say something else. In the end, he just turned on the radio. It was a bit more than thirty minutes to Arthur’s house. Shit.

Merlin’s first glimpse of Arthur’s house came after a hidden driveway, a mile of forest and a five acre green hill. His house fit the scenery, which to say it was gorgeous and belonged in a fairy tale. It was a three story brick mansion with vines creeping up the sides. It might not be big enough to count as a mansion, but it was pretty damn close. Arthur gave the ‘grand tour’, starting with the kitchen and moving to the dining room, living room, the bedrooms and bathrooms. It was a huge spacious place. Arthur circulated quickly, as if he wanted it to be over. He did not meet anyone’s eye. No one spoke much and the tension was palpable. At the end he spoke, “House rules are that if you make a mess you have to clean it up, no parties, and curfew is 12.”  
Gwaine scoffed, “There's a curfew?”  
“Yes. Problem?”  
Gwaine met his eye and the tension in the room grew. Arthur stared at him, willing Gwaine to drop his gaze. A lifetime later, he did. Arthur silently let out a breathe. Gwaine was going to be a problem.  
“You guys can pick out your rooms. There are five not in use.”

Merlin didn’t search long for his room. He didn’t have the energy. The first room he stumbled into seemed okay. It was small, with a huge window which he decided would be perfect to stare out of and contemplate how the fuck he’d been so stupid.   
And then of course blondie had to peek his head through the door. Merlin was still facing the window, but he could sense his alpha. Omegagrade apparently hadn’t dulled his sense too much.  
Arthur opened his mouth to speak but Merlin stopped him,  
“Don’t.”  
“What?”  
“I said don’t. Just don’t. Don’t offer words of pity, don’t offer condolences, don’t make excuses.” The flood of words came out before Merlin could stop them. Instantly he cursed his stupidity.  
“I-um-I-Sorry?”  
Merlin let out a bitter laugh, “Fuck off.”  
“You can’t talk to me like that.”  
“I just did.”  
Arthur growled, eyes flashing red and Merlin growled right back. His eyes were yellow now, side effect of being an Omega.  
Merlin didn’t know what would have happened next, because if any fighting happened, he would have surely lost. The shaggy-haired beta, Merlin thought his name was Leon, came running into the room. Surveying the scene in front of him, Leon stepped in between them.  
“Would you like to come back to the living room? The pack is waiting for you.” He held his breath waiting for the answer.  
Arthur spoke first without breaking eye contact, “Yes, we are coming.”  
Merlin gritted his teeth and turned toward the door, leaving first. Arthur turned toward Leon as he gripped his arm.  
“You’ve got to hold it together.”  
“I know but….God, this is really stressful.”  
“It’s better than being dead.”  
“True.”


	3. Chapter 3

“You will move in before the weekend is out.”  
Gwaine’s protest was broken by a phone ringing. Arthur reached in his pocket and checked the caller I.D.  
“Shit.”  
“Who is it?” Leon asked.  
“Morgana.”  
Merlin had no idea of who ‘Morgana’ was, but Arthur’s pack suddenly grew alert.  
Groaning and shuffling his feet, Arthur answered the phone. Merlin’s pack looked on interestedly.  
“Hello Morgana.”  
“Dearest brother, how are you?” Apparently, Arthur had a sister.  
Arthur moved into a room off the right and closed the door. He needn’t have bothered, as the entire pack was going to listen in anyway.   
“How did the fight go?”  
“You know how it went,” Arthur answered shortly  
“I watched it live. Anyway I want to meet the new additions of your pack so I’m flying over there now.”  
“What?” Arthur choked.  
“You worry too much. I’m boarding the plane now. I can help the new people move it. I trust you haven’t let any of them take my room?”  
“Obviously not.”  
“Fantastic. Oh, and father says hi.”  
Morgana hung up.  
Arthur breathed out exasperatedly. Morgana’s sister was an alpha, with a pack of her own, but she liked to meddle in Arthur’s. Too much.  
He walked out of the room, “I know all of you were listening in.”  
The pack had the decency to at least pretend to be ashamed.  
“Have you guy’s chosen your rooms?”  
Silence.  
“Okay… If you need any necessities from your house Leon will drive you up there.”

\---

Merlin had wanted to come with them, but he ended up falling asleep before they even departed. Freya would have felt pity for him, but it would probably be a waste of emotions. The car ride was as stoic as the drive up had been. Leon opted for the radio option as soon as the car started. Their house wasn’t as grand as Arthur’s, but it had been home for seven years all the same. It was a one story, painted a cheerful shade of blue.  
When they pulled up Leon gave them twenty minutes.  
And then the silence was broken. Slamming the door Gwaine shouted,  
“Twenty minutes? I’m supposed to grab all my shit in twenty minutes?”  
Freya snapped back, No, you have to grab all your shit in two minutes and we have to have a pack conference about what the fuck we’re going to do.”  
Gwen hissed at him, “Keep your voice down.”  
“What we’re going to do is simple.” Gwaine was calm now.  
“Is it?” Gwen’s tone held a note of warning.  
“Yes, obvious. We’re going to make their life a living hell.”  
“Are we?” This time Freya’s voice held a note of question.  
“Yes! We can’t just roll over, not after what they did to Merlin.”  
Gwen began to take his side, “I agree. We’re stronger than them. Closer, faster, together. We can make them regret they ever chose to mess with us.”  
Freya took a deep breath and chose her words carefully. “And we would accomplish what exactly by doing that?”  
Gwaine stared her dead in the eye, “We can show them we don’t belong to them.”  
Gwen cut in, “We can take revenge for what that blond brute did to Merlin.”  
“Merlin knew what he was getting into.”  
They were silent for a minute until Gwen cut in, “I’m not denying Merlin knew what he was getting into, but we’re just supposed to pass over what happened? Pretend it never happened?”  
“Other packs have done it.”  
“But Freya, you can’t deny you feel just a little hatred for the other pack.”  
“Just a little?” Freya laughed, “I wouldn’t mind seeing blondie dead.”  
“Then we agree on something.”  
“But I just don’t think it would be profitable to rebel. What would it accomplish?.”  
“Arthur will let us go. We’ll make his life a living hell. And then he will set us free. Don’t you want to see it, Freya? Arthur has ordered us out of this house by the end of the weekend. In just a day, this entire house will be empty. Sure, his house isn’t hard to look at, but it’s not ours. Our house, the one we renovated and painted and added our own little quirks to, it’ll be gone. And we’ll be living with Arthur and co. And Merlin. He should be here right now except he was fucking raped. Merlin would want this.”  
And this is.. this is exactly why you should never argue with a lawyer.  
“Fine.” She heard herself saying, “I’m in.”  
They began to plan. Most of it revolved around not talking to the others. It was petty stuff, really. Simple stuff. A few pranks here and there to inconvenience Arthur, but each one would remind him how much they hated him.

\---

It was two in the morning when Merlin awoke. He wasn’t sure why he was awake, but he distinctly remembered his name being called by...someone. And then he heard it again.  
Merlin.  
Far away and close at the same time. That was strange. Merlin waited again, but didn’t hear anything. Must have been his imagination. He groaned and laid back down. Every muscle he owned burned. His healing was slowed down, another side effect. He wished Omegagrade came with a handbook. They had to move out of their house tomorrow. That was a bit depressing. He’d lived in that house for a long time with his pack. Merlin felt a surge of anger accompanied with the idea of moving out. Fuck Arthur. Fuck his pack. Fuck his stupid need to beat Arthur at his own game. Fuck all of this. Merlin’s eyes were glowing with rage. His eyes weren’t red anymore, they weren’t even the blue of a beta. They were yellow. Merlin had always hated the color yellow. He threw back his sheets to go do… something. Get some water and brush his teeth. Or go slit Arthur’s throat. But when his foot hit the ground a ribbon of pain shot through it. And as that pain radiated through his foot, Merlin’s anger turned to tears. Thank god everyone was asleep right now. How could he have let this happen? His body shuddered and he laid back down, drawing his blankets closer to him, almost as a barrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be posting for another three weeks.. I'm getting sent to boot camp and they make you wake up at 6:30 in the morning to go running. I'm gonna die. Sorry for the delay. Also thanks for commenting and stuff, it makes my life:)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peaks head from around the corner* Hi.  
> So, its been a bit more than a month. Oops. Anyway boot camp sucked and they made you wake up at 6:30am. No phone and I couldn't even keep in touch with the Parental Unit. Anyway civilization is nice and wifi wow amazing yes. So, not only is this chapter really overdue its really late. Sorry bout' that.  
> Merlin works at an aquarium btw.

Morgana arrived early in the morning Saturday, Arthur was asleep in his room when the doorbell rang. Grumbling and answering the door, he was hit with the scent of something expensive and also tackled with a hug. Smiling, (he couldn’t help himself) he hugged back.  
“Hello little brother! It’s been a while.”  
“Too long.”  
“Indeed. Would you help me with my bags? They’re out in the car.”  
Arthur followed her outside. Once they were out of earshot from the house, Morgana turned to him, blue eyes suddenly serious.  
“How is it? Really.”  
Arthur sighed, “I barely slept tonight for fear one of the other pack would come slit my throat.” Death of an Alpha after Omegagrade hadn’t been unusual.  
Morgana shoved a leather suitcase in his hands, “Well, that’s your first problem.”  
“What?”  
“You just referred to them as ‘the other pack’. To get them to accept you, you have to accept them.”  
Arthur blinked.  
“Oh, you are a dunce. Thank god you have me. Have they begun to move out yet?   
“Instead of responding to you calling me a dunce, I shall answer your question. Yesterday they got the stuff they needed to spend the night. Other than that, no. I told them they had to be moved in by Sunday, so they only have two days.”  
“Well that’s a start. Lets wake them up, and we can get them moved in. The quicker we get them inside, they quicker you can create a pack that doesn’t want to stab each other.”  
\--  
Gwen woke to the smell of pancakes. It smelled almost like home. Going downstairs, she found the large one.. Percy on the stove. Huh. No one is Merlin’s pack had been a very good cook. Arthur sat on the island with a strikingly beautiful raven haired women drinking coffee. He turned around when he noticed her,  
“Hello Gwen! Morgana this is Gwen. Gwen, this is my sister Morgana.”  
“Pleasure.” Gwen smiled to make up for her lackluster tone.  
“Likewise.”  
Percy looked up from the grill, “Care for some pancakes?”  
“Love some.”  
Gwen sat down hoping to eat her meal in peace. Alas, she was never a lucky person.  
Morgana turned to her, “So, where do you work?”  
“A law firm downtown.”  
Please stop talking to me. Please stop talking to me.  
“Lawyer. I’d considered going into that.”  
Arthur broke in, “No you didn’t. Not even for a second.”  
Gwen smiled discreetly. They reminded her about her own brother. Well, until he completely abandoned her in her time of need and she hasn’t heard from him since but ya know. Semantics.   
Arthur went to wake everyone else up. Gwaine wouldn’t be happy about that. It was eight o’ clock. Painstakingly early for him.  
Introductions were made. Merlin looked surprisingly well rested. His scent had changed from alpha to omega, but she couldn’t tell what his mood was. He was too practiced in hiding his scent but she didn’t imagine it to be something positive.  
Introductions were made.   
Morgana was, for lack of a better word, amazing. She got the conversation going and even when Gwaine appeared five minutes late with a very large bitchface on, managed to crack a joke that made him suppress a laugh. She complimented people, just the right compliment so people were surprised, but didn't think she was lying. Gwen watched her give a strawberry to Freya and coax a smile out of Merlin. Morgana was good.  
She was the biggest liar Gwen had ever seen.   
\---  
Breakfast had gone smoothly. Unpacking Merlin's house was not.  
Merlin’s house was cozy. Small. And held a few hundred dollars worth of books.   
Arthur was helping Freya with the seemingly endless amounts of books coming from her bookshelf when Merlin walked by unsteadily with two boxes full of even more fucking books. “How many books do you guys have?”  
“Enough.” Freya bit out.  
Arthur almost shivered despite the warm autumn air. Her tone could freeze vodka.  
He carried the books to the car Morgana was driving.  
“What do you think of them?”  
She tossed her hair, “They're nice people. Loyal. This is probably one of the hardest pack integrations I've seen.”  
“Wonderful.”  
“How much have we emptied out?”  
“At least half of it. We might be done right now if they would stop dragging their feet.”  
“I thought I was the only one who’d noticed. Don’t let them alone with each other. I don’t trust them.”  
Saturday evening Arthur noticed one of his tires was flat. It must have been a loose nail....but Arthur still noticed Gwaine didn’t meet his eye.   
By Sunday night everything had been moved into Arthur’s house.  
\---  
It was strange living in someone else's house when you didn’t know them. Morgana had been... pleasant. Nice. Even the rest of Arthur's pack didn't seem too bad except Merlin didn't really know them and didn't plan on getting to know them. Merlin hadn't bothered to think of Arthur at all.  
Going to work was hell. His day began by sneaking out of the house to avoid talking to people and didn't get much better from there.   
His coworkers acted awkward around him. His boss actually pulled him aside to ask him 'if he was alright'. God fucking bless Will and Mithian though. They didn't ask him about it, didn't comment on how his scent has changed, didn't hit on him.   
People actually hit on him.  
Oh, how the mighty fall.  
Around two he led a group on the tours the aquarium gave. They were a nice bunch, asking him questions and generally being nice. Except a woman kept eyeing him. Alpha.  
He spent the tour avoiding her. Thank fuck she didn't try talking to him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> plot twist af

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This was written at two in the morning so :P

Leon's two o'clock snacks were becoming a problem.  
This was the fourth time this week and he'd been steadily gaining weight this month.  
But food! He grabbed some bread from the pantry...and then stopped. He smelled something. Something distinctly Not Pack.  
And then something-no-someone knocked him to the floor. Instantly he ripped at whatever he could find but it was no use. He was bound within seconds.  
"Ar-!" A hand was clapped over his mouth immediately..  
"Shut up."  
He has to warn them, had to tell them!  
He bite his captor's hand and heard a curse from above.  
"The alp-"  
He was cut off as a gag was placed in his mouth.  
Shit all he wanted was a sandwich.  
He heard motion all around him and he struggled against his captor but he might have been a rag doll in the hands of a child for all it did for him.  
Leon closed his eyes to hear better. He heard Lance's voice, "Wha-?" And then sounds of fighting.  
He heard Arthur's voice, finally, and the realization he wasn't dead sent a rush of relief over him.  
"Bastard." That was Gwen's voice.  
Leon opened his eyes to see two figures tumble down the stairs. It was Freya and an Alpha. The Alpha dragged her into the living room and held his claws to her throat.  
"Move and I will kill you."  
Next came Lance, bleeding slightly from his head.  
The rest of the pack followed, all bleeding and all secured by an alpha. This scene was unfortunately familiar.  
And then someone turned the lights on.  
Leon squinted as his eyes adjusted.  
"Well, now that I've got you all here together, why don't we have a little chat?" Morgause’s sugary sweet voice flowed across the room.  
Arthur growled from where he was held. Two Alphas held him, one from each arm.  
"Arthur! What a pleasure. Boys if you would just do me a favor and bring him over here?"  
Arthur was dragged over and shoved onto his knees.  
"Oh! And Morgana too, if you've the chance?"  
Morgana didn't look very well. Blood matted her hair and she was breathing heavily.  
"Ah! The Pendragons siblings! How I've missed you so!"  
"Fuck...off.." Morgana said between heavy breaths.  
"I'd rather fuck you, my dear. Maybe I still will, if I've got the chance."  
"Try me." Morgana stared at her with hardened green eyes.  
"Maybe later. I'm making a business call right now." The worst part is she was always so damnably happy.  
Arthur scoffed.  
"Is something funny to you, Arthur? Because something is funny to me, I'm glad you get the joke."  
Arthur didn't reply, just glared.  
"Going the silent route, are we? Well, do as you please. But open your ears. I'm still going to have you as part of my pack. And your darling sister too. Did you think a simple Omegagrade would stop me? Those have happened in the thousands, it's not intimidating anymore. Oh! Omegagrade! That reminds me. Oh Mordred? Could you bring the darling Omega over here too?"  
They did as she commanded.  
"Ohhh.." She cooed. "Aren't you just a sweet one. You smell pretty too! Like a flower."  
Merlin's eyes shown yellow.  
"Oh! And you get angry too!"  
She turned to Arthur, "Have you fucked him yet?"  
Arthur glared.  
"Besides the Omegagrade."  
No answer.  
She slapped him. Full in the face with claws out. Red streaks appeared on his face."  
"I don't like when people don't answer me. So I'm going to ask you again. Have. You. Fucked. Him. Yet?"  
Arthur ground his teeth, "No."  
"Shame. He is yours, you know."  
She walked over and knelt to look Merlin in the eye, "Yours to do whatever you wish."  
She stood up.  
"But moving on. I'm still going to kill the rest of your pack. Even if it is larger, it will still be an easy task. One week from now, bright and early at six am!"  
She walked out,  
"See you then."  
And on cue, the rest of her pack let go of their captives and followed her, one by one.  
It was silent after they left. No one looked each other for a minute. Arthur went into the kitchen and brought out a bottle of scotch. He poured himself a shot and drowned it.  
"Okay so... pack meeting."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> BACKSTORY AF BITCHES also Gwen is a boss

Five minutes later they sat in the living room with bottles of alcohol of varying strengths. Morgana watched her brother take a deep breath.   
"So I suppose I owe you an explanation..."  
Gwaine snorted, "I'll say."  
Arthur poured himself another shot.  
"Okay, Morgana do you want to start, or should I?  
"I swear to God, any other time I would save you from this, but right now I've got a concussion, a few broken ribs, and a severe lack of motivation to do anything more than get drunk right now."  
"Okay." Arthur took a gulp of his drink. And he started from the beginning.  
"So I know some of you have heard part of this story before but that woman was Morgause. And her hatred for us began with our father. Uther. Now, our father isn't actually a good person. Along with other things, he cheated on my mother with her omega sister Elaine. Well, when sex happens so do babies but when Elaine told my father, Uther rejected her. Hated her. Demanded she get an abortion. But she didn't want to give up the baby so she went into hiding and nine months later out popped Morgana."  
Morgana gave a mock salute from where she was sitting.  
"Our mother, Ygraine, didn't know who the father to this baby was, just thought it was some person her sister had gotten to help her through her heat. So, being the kind and gentle soul I was told she was, she offered to help take the baby in. Elaine consented and left the baby with Uther and Ygraine and then fled to America. Then Uther got Ygraine pregnant and I was born. A week after my birth, Ygraine died. She never found out about Uther’s affair."  
"But what Elaine never told anyone, is she game birth to twins. So she left a baby in Europe and brought one to America. That one, is Morgause. And now, Morgause blames us," he motioned to Morgana and himself,"for everything. Elaine died when Morgause was still very young, but she told Morgause who she was and who her father was. After that Morgause was a problematic foster kid for a while. She got in a street fight when she was seventeen, killed an alpha and inherited their powers. From there she formed an Alpha pack, collecting Alphas, and attacking other packs to get their Alphas... and so now we are here."  
There was silence when he finished.  
Morgana turned to him.   
"Good job. You got through it without fucking up once! First time for everything. And so no the question is, what are we going to do now?"  
Silence.  
Gwen spoke up, "Nothing."  
Morgana's gaze sliced toward her, "Nothing? How do you think that's gonna work out?"  
"Well, you can do anything you want. But Merlin, Gwaine, Freya and I really have no reason why we should save the Pendragon siblings from their enviable end."  
Morgana literally couldn't believe what de was hearing, "Our end? Morgause is going to kill you before taking us."  
"Yes, well, I suppose then we have a week of partying before we die and leave you to it."  
Freya's confused voice cut into the conversation, "Gwen? What are-"  
Gwen silenced her with a glance.  
Arthur's fury bled through his voice, "So what you're saying is that you are going to roll over and show your neck and let us fall?"  
"Exactly."  
Morgana's eyes flashed, "Don't drink poison and wait for your enemy to die."  
"I can recite sayings too, 'I will sink my own ship to kill the captain'."  
Arthur whirled to everyone is Merlin's prior pack, "And are you going along with this suicide mission?"  
Gwaine and Merlin mostly looked apprehensive but Freya looked really pissed off. But when she opened her mouth, Gwen cut her off again.  
"Of course they're going along with this. We all want to see you fall."  
Silence. Arthur was at a loss.  
"Unless you give us back our rights as a separate pack."  
And there it was.  
Morgana had underestimated Gwen.  
Arthur was stunned into silence but it took a bit more to quiet Morgana. She could play this game.  
"To clarify, you're saying your pack will refuse to help us unless-"  
"Unless you help us first."  
It was a gamble. A stupid, fearless, dangerous gamble. The question was if Gwen and co would be stupid enough to follow through with their promise.  
Silence.  
Arthur turned to her, raising his eyebrows.  
Morgana gave a barely perceptible nod.  
"Fine."  
Gwen didn't skip a beat, "Then let's get to work."  
Arthur shook his head, "Not tonight."  
"Not tonight?"  
"It's three o'clock in the morning, most of us have work in three hours, I say we nurse our wounds, go to sleep, and talk tomorrow."  
Gwaine nodded, "I'll roll with that."  
"Good." He stood up and rest at the table followed in suit.  
"Good night."  
Morgana came into his bedroom later with a bottle of scotch.  
"Please tell me that's for me."  
Arthur didn't look so good, although Morgana supposed she didn't look much better.  
"You made the right decision in letting them go."  
"Fucking Gwen. I thought she was so nice."  
"I think she probably is nice, just a bit vicious. That move she pulled? Amazing."  
"Yes, well. I'm not to fond of power plays."  
Morgana supposed her brother wouldn't, not after licking the bottom of Uther's foot for twenty year.  
"Well, in a way, this might be good."  
"Good?" He scoffed. "In what way?"  
"Well the our pack has more motivation to fight."  
"What, their lives weren't motivation enough?"  
Morgana laughed bitterly.  
"Jesus Christ. What are we going to do? It's nine alphas vs eight of us."  
"Well, we'll figure it out. We've got a better reason to win."  
Morgana poured him another shot.  
"Please, let's drink more, life isn't fun sober."

Walking back to his room, Merlin's mind was a tumble of thoughts. He'd committed himself to this unhappy existence, but now there was a light at the end of a tunnel. Just a week away. Gwaine walked toward him and caught his arm, "Meeting in Gwen's room. Five minutes."  
Merlin nodded before entering his room.   
It was still pretty bare. Most of his stuff was still in boxes and anything he'd unpacked was scattered across the room courtesy of the fight with Alpha. Ignoring the items on the floor he rifled through some of his boxes. He knew had first aid supplies somewhere. His head throbbed. His alpha was a creepy greasy disgusting man who cursed too much. He'd threatened....well, he'd threatened a lot of things. Merlin felt a rush of relief when he found the box with the first aid kit and he tugged it out and headed to Gwen's. His injuries weren't too bad. He had a few claw marks on his leg but nothing that wouldn't heal, his wrist might be dislocated and that hurt like a motherfucker but most he wanted a drink.  
Luckily, Gwaine was happy to provide.  
The second he opened the door a beer flew past his head followed by an, "Oi! Merlin! Have something alcoholic to celebrate!"  
Partly out of reflex and habit Merlin caught the beer. And then yelled in pain when he realized it was the broken one.  
"Shit sorry, you aright?"  
Merlin gave a smile that probably looked more like a grimace, "Caught it."  
Freya came it, "I heard yelling?"  
Gwen rolled her eyes, "Nope, that's just Gwaine being an idiot."  
Freya laughed and pulled Gwen into a hug.  
"I can't believe you did that."  
"It wasn't too hard, I just saw the chance and took it."  
Merlin stood up and joined the hug, "Always so modest. That was no simple thing."  
Freya squinted at Gwaine, "Join us idiot."  
Gwaine huffed, before standing up and engulfing all of them, "You did okay, maybe."  
"Loser." Gwen stuck her tongue out at him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mordred's life sux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm sorry I don't update regularly and I'm sorry for the future when I don't update regularly. Also, I'm taking 5 AP classes and my life is shit and my bday is tomorrow. Thank you to everyone commenting and giving kudos. Ya'll are awesome.

“Okay.” Arthur set a stack of papers down with a thud, “Lance and I did some research on the alpha pack.”  
They were sitting at the table again, which was quickly becoming the headquarters, goto, lets-get-work-done meeting spot.  
"There are twelve alphas, including Morgause, so some of us are going to have to fight two at once. Since we don't have strength in numbers, we have to have strength in strategy. Morgana suggested studying their fighting habits so we looked up some of their past fights. Wolf News did a story on them.”  
Merlin rolled his eyes, “They got a whole story? We only got one report in the local paper.”  
Arthur smirked before opening his laptop, "This was the most recent video we could find.”  
On the screen a video played. It was in poor quality and very shaky. On screen a young boy was fighting Morgause. He wasn't doing half bad. He wasn't doing good either. A scream offscreen sounded, scarily loud, before being cut off into a gargled silence. The boy on screen stopped and turned to the sound of the noise. His face crumpled when he found the source and he fell to his knees, arms clutched around his midriff as if to hold himself together. Tears streamed down his face. The clip ended.  
Gwaine leaned backward, “Well. That was brutal.”  
“Yes, if it makes you feel any better, that was the worst one out of all of them.”  
“Strangely, it doesn’t.”  
"Who was that?" Freya asked  
"That was Mordred Lott. He fought Morgause less than a year ago. Now part of Morgause's pack."  
Arthur hadn't wanted to show the clip in the fear that the pack would deem their situation hopeless, but Morgana has persuaded him too from the viewpoint of showing them how crappy their situation was.  
Gwaine looked rattled, "How old was Mordred in that video?"  
Arthur clenched his jaw, "Sixteen."  
"Holy fuck."  
"Yes."  
"How exactly do you get alpha status by the age of sixteen?"  
"Not in a happy way. He was young, almost fifteen, and his pack died in a house fire. All of them. He inherited the alpha power, got his own pack and then, well." He gestures to the computer. "This happened. Mordred had only four in his pack, mainly a collection of friends from high school with no pack.  
Merlin cut in, "Who screamed?"  
"Kara Larimer. Mordred's mate."  
"They were mates early on?"  
"Supposedly, details were not found."  
Morgana raised her hand, "Mordred is being forced to live with Morgause and co. How old is he now?"  
"Seventeen, I believe. I know this looks really bad for us, but I've taken a look at previous Morgause fights and they've got patterns that we can exploit. For one, it seems that each of them pick and choose which pack members each is going after. We can get around this by pairing up in tr-"  
"Before you move on.."  
Arthur looked up from his papers, annoyed.  
Gwen was staring at him contemplatively.   
"Yes?"  
Inwardly he worried she was going to drop another bomb.  
"Can we go back to Mordred? A seventeen year old boy, hanging around with the alphas. Does he go to school?"  
"I assume so, yes."  
"He must be very unhappy with his life. He's seen two packs die, along with his mate. You said we need to win by strategy."  
"Please elaborate."  
"Could it be possible to get Mordred to turn against his pack and come to our side?"  
Arthur went through a mix of emotions, first confusion then awe and then- "Could that work?"  
"It's not tradition, but there are no laws against it."  
"You’re saying it's foul play.”  
"Do you think Morgause gives a shit about honor? That women began on the streets and in less than a few years became the alpha of alphas. You don't do that by playing by the rules. If we’re going to stand a chance of winning this, we have to throw morals out the window."  
Arthur didn’t have to think about it, "Fine. It's worth a shot. I'll go talk to Mordred."  
"No, you can't.”  
Without his permission, Arthur’s tone was becoming annoyed, “Why not?”  
“It's illegal. According to the rules that dictate a challenge. The alpha cannot have any contact with the other pack until the day of the fight. The betas can meet but not by aggressive means. However,” She looked straight ahead, “There are no rules dictating omegas."  
Merlin gave her a look that read “Really?”  
Morgana looked at Gwen, "You've been doing your research."  
"Normally when I have a choice between life and death, I'll fight for life."  
"You said betas can meet but not by aggressive means. Can a beta go see Mordred?"  
"Technically, because they have no intent for aggression."  
Merlin looked up doubtfully, "Technically? You don't sound too sure."  
"Because it doesn't matter what your intent is, if Mordred manages to lure one of our betas into a fight, then it will be our fault for approaching him. This thing has a lot of specific rules and regulations and I would bet my ass Morgause knows all of them. Which ones she can bend and which ones must be obeyed at all times. If they're broken, punishments range from paying a fine to automatic victory for the other team."  
Merlin stared at Gwen, “Gee, I wonder who’s going to meet with Mordred?”  
Gwen smiled at him, “Sorry.”  
Merlin shrugged and gave her a forgiving look, “Can’t stay mad at you Gwen.”  
Arthur looked back at his laptop, “We’re going to have to find Mordred’s school.”  
Lance was typing on his computer, “I’m looking for it.”  
Morgana raised his voice, “You wouldn’t happen to have a copy of the rules, would you?”  
“Yea, I printed it off earlier.”  
“You’re prepared.”  
Gwen raised her eyebrows and held a packet of papers out to Morgana.  
Morgana met her stare and accepted them.  
She flipped through it before giving a low whistle, “Shit, this is dense. Did you read all of this?”  
“Yes.”  
“Can I keep this?”  
“It’s all yours.”  
Lance furrowed his eyes at the exchange, before looking at Arthur, “Found it.”  
“That was quick.”  
Lance shrugged, “Wasn’t that hard. Just looked up where he’s lived and closest high schools. Typed in his name along with the high schools until something popped up. He’s enrolled as a senior in JFK High.  
“Where is that?  
“About a twenty to thirty minute drive away.”  
“It’s not that far away, but how am I supposed to reach him? I highly doubt I can just walk into the front office and demand to see one of their students.”  
“Technically, you can't, but they will let you through if you say you’re a visiting omega for ‘pack purposes’ and explain the situation. They’ll call him down.”  
“That seems a bit conspicuous.”  
“It’ll work.”  
Arthur closed his laptop, “I thought for the rest of the day we’d train. Tonight we can marathon the Wolf News story with popcorn and protein shakes but for now, workout clothes and pain.”  
Groans filled the room along with the sound of chairs scraping the floor as everyone moved to change.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh how the mighty fall

Merlin attempted to toss a piece of popcorn into Leon's mouth. It missed by a long shot and bounced on the floor.   
"Hey! Watch the carpet!" Arthur barked from across the room.  
Neither moved to pick it up.  
Movie night. Merlin could get used to this. He was wedged between Morgana and Freya. Morgana smelled incredibly good, something about the alpha pheromones were messing with Merlin's head. It made him feel more secure, more grounded. This would have been perfectly fine, except for one thing. Merlin hated being an omega. Hated it hated it hated it. Hated the lack of power, the lack of respect. Hated how he felt he needed the approval of his alpha. Hated how he used to be the one in charge and now it was Arthur. It was difficult, to rise to the very top and fall so very far. Morgause's words still rang in the back of his mind. Yours to do whatever you wish. The treatment of omegas in society didn't matter to him when he was on top of the world. Omega rights activist were annoying, inconsequential. Now, Merlin was an omega. This was his life. It was eye-opening in the worst of ways.  
He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind and shifted positions. And then winced. Training this afternoon was hell. It began with a loop around all the property Arthur owned. Easy enough to say, harder to do. The property was six miles across, and even longer if you were running around it. Even with his alpha power gone, Merlin still ran quickly. He even thought that his speed might be improved. They ran as a pack, and Merlin felt slightly elated when he realized he was in the forefront. As they ran, Arthur pointed out the surrounding packs.   
“Over there is Annis. We’re quite on good terms. She had us over for tea a couple of weeks ago." Or "We're about to run next to the Wyalls, they're a family of eight. Don't know them well but we've not had trouble with them."  
He rattled off a few more names but Merlin hadn’t bothered to remember them. He'd been on relatively good terms with his old neighbors as well, although the only land they owned was a two acre backyard.  
Land ownership was a sign of wealth and prestige, and Merlin's pack had neither of those.  
After the run Arthur led them through a forest to a clearing that smelled like dried blood. There were punching bags hung on trees and a rope at the back.  
"Okay, pair up. Leon with Gwen, Morgana with Gwaine, Merlin with Percy, Freya with Lance. There should be enough punching bags for everyone."  
Morgana and Gwaine went first. As they began the rest of the pack worked on the punching bags. Merlin watched Percy attack the bag. He was strong, the punching bag swayed back and forth. He would not be an easy one to beat.  
Merlin stopped studying Percy's moves and began to work on his own. Except attacking a leather sand bag was extremely boring when there was a fight happening in the middle of the clearing.  
Within the first minute, most of the pack had given up the attempt and began to watch Morgana kick Gwaine's ass.  
Gwaine lasted eight minutes, pathetic especially because they weren't using claws.  
Morgana was a great fighter, maybe even better than Arthur if Merlin thought about it. She used sneak attacks, throwing her opponent off balance before running them down in bold moves.  
Gwaine didn't hold a candle. Merlin had prepared for his fight with Arthur in much the same way, fighting in the backyard with his pack. Merlin knew Gwaine's moves.They were predictable. Well, kinda.  
Gwaine grabbed Morgana's wrist and attempted to punch her face.  
Morgana swiveled out of the way and kicked him in the stomach. Gwaine curled in on himself and Morgana held his neck down.  
Arthur counted, "1..2..3"  
Morgana let go, "Oh my god, Gwaine, are you okay?"  
Gwaine didn’t try to get up. "Remind me to never fight you again."  
Morgana half grimaced, half smiled, "Dude, I'm so sorry."  
She offered him her hand.  
He eyed it suspiciously, "Why do I get the feeling you're going to knock me down again if I take that?"  
She laughed, "I won't."  
"Promise?"  
"Promise."  
She helped him up   
Arthur called from the sidelines, "You shithead! You never helped me up!"  
"You're right, nor will I help you up when I knock you onto your ass right now!"  
"Big talk, but can you actually do it?"  
"Come in here and find out!"  
Gwaine limped off and Merlin met him.  
"That was pathetic."  
"Please, let's see you fight Morgana."  
Lance nudged in, "He's right, Morgana has beaten all of our asses."  
"Is she about to beat Arthur's?" Merlin cocked his head in the direction of the fighting ring where Morgana and Arthur were circling.  
"That depends. They grew up fighting each other so they're pretty equal. They know each other's moves well, so expect this to last awhile."  
"Who usually wins?"  
"It's a coin toss."  
Merlin leaned against a tree to watch the fight.  
Five minutes later, Percy, Leon, and Lance had lost interest.  
Twenty minutes later so had Gwaine, Merlin, Gwen and Freya.   
Thirty minutes later, Arthur and Morgana had a draw, agreeing that other people needed to fight and they shouldn’t hog the space.  
“To be continued.”  
Arthur nodded.  
Leon and Gwen went next. Their fight was entertaining. Gwen fought dirty, she always had. She used her elbows when she punched, ensuring it would hurt one hell of a lot more. Leon was more of a hesitant fighter, he didn't rain down punches toward Gwen, he waited for the most opportune time and then hit her sharply in a pressure point.  
The entire pack 'ooohed' when he got her in the throat. She held her hand up to her neck.  
"Fuckkkk..."  
But Leon was coming at her again so she ducked under him.  
It was a long fight, one that Gwen did win in the end.  
"Nice."  
Merlin held up his hand and she slapped it.  
Merlin and Percy were up next, and Merlin wanted to win this fight. Needed to. He almost felt the need to prove something.  
Merlin attacked first. He tried a new tactic with Percy, one where he would jump close, do some damage, and then jump back.  
Percy was...easy to fight.  
He swung a punch at Merlin, but it was far too slow and Merlin shoved it away before hitting him in the ribs with a sharp hand. It would have hurt hell of a lot more if claws were being used, but as it was Percy just ‘oofed’ and tilted to the side a bit. Huh. If Merlin had been fighting Gwaine, Gwaine would have been down for the count.  
When Merlin had been watching Percy demolish a punching bag, he hadn’t seemed slow. But every time Percy might have had a chance to hit Merlin he seemed to hesitate. When he did finally manage to clip Merlin on the jaw, Percy flinched. Merlin was confused.  
It took Merlin a few tries to bring Percy down, but eventually he toppled to the floor. All it took was Merlin jerking on his neck while leaning all his weight onto Percy’s knee. But Merlin felt no pride when he sat on Percy’s chest. The man underneath him was a formidable fighter. Merlin shouldn’t have been able to take him down that easily.   
Watching Freya and Lance fight was almost humorous. Both of them followed the rules, and they kept apologizing to each other.  
Freya slammed Lance in the jaw and squeaked out an "I'm sorry!" while she did it.  
Lance retaliated by pushing her to the ground, "It's okay!"  
In the end Lance won, which Merlin wasn't surprised about. Freya wasn't much of a fighter, and on a good day, Merlin could fight-and win- against Gwaine and Freya both.  
"Alright, good job today guys. Tomorrow we'll switch it up. Let's head out."  
The pack trickled out, and Merlin fell back to where Percy was.  
"Why did you go easy on me?" He hissed at Percy.  
Percy looked at him from the corner of his eye, "I didn't."  
Merlin snorted, "Bullshit. I saw you with the punching bag today. You were good."  
"I..."  
Merlin stared at him for a moment.  
"Were you going easy on me because I'm an omega? Or better yet, because you pity me?"  
Merlin struggled to control his voice.  
"No."  
"Then what is it?"  
More quiet. And then….  
"I don't like fighting. I don't like hitting people.”  
Merlin felt his anger dissipate.  
Oh course, Percy could be lying, but Merlin didn’t tag him as the type.  
They were silent, listening to the chatter around them.  
Percy spoke up again, "I don't care that you're an omega."  
Merlin looked up, “You don’t?”  
“No.”  
This was..new for Merlin. A lot of people had treated him differently, and here was this tall beta telling him it didn’t matter. It was a new perspective.  
“Oh.”  
They were quiet on the way back, Merlin because he was thinking, and Percy because that was his default.

The entire room gasped at the screen and Merlin brought himself back. Movie night. This would have been a lot better if they weren't watching Morgause and co. rip various packs to pieces. They were nearing the end of her conquests. She was fighting an alpha called Nimueh.   
The Wolf news reporter opened her mouth, "As you can see Morgause's fighting style is brutally efficient. She managed to defeat Nimueh's pack in only thirteen minutes, astounding, especially because Nimueh was well known for being a merciless fighter herself."  
The clip changed to a reporter interviewing Morgause.  
"So what motivates you to making your pack large?"  
"As a girl, the only pack I had was my mother, and when I began building up my pack, I realized the power it gave me. But at the same time as the power was intoxicating, it wasn't so overpowering that I began to drown, it actually gave me more control."  
"Interesting, how does a girl from the streets become the most powerful Alpha of our time?"  
"Honestly? Hard work. Lots of hard work. Facing reality head on, practicing in the gym. I'd always been a good fighter, but I really honed my skill to an art."  
"It's amazing how much work you put into this." The reporter looked down at the card she held. "Do you have any lovers out there? Any special omega tucked away?"  
Merlin tensed.  
"More like fucked away. I'm not looking to settle down quite yet, but I do enjoy the occasional one night stand."  
More questions were asked but Merlin ceased to pay attention.  
Eventually the video cut back to the first reporter.  
"Well, you heard that kids, the story of how Morgause went from a nobody to the biggest baddest wolf in this decade."  
The news switched to other things and Arthur turned the tv off.  
"Alright, it's late. I've got work tomorrow, I'm going to bed. I'd advise you all to do the same."

Later when Merlin was washing his face he looked in the mirror and flared his eyes. Bright yellow. "Omega." Merlin jerked his head. Someone had said something to him. Directly in his ear. He heard it again.  
"Merlin."  
Far away and close at the same time.  
Merlin shook his head. He must have been going crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thanks to VamCx and Wulf for their lovely comments:)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stress (noun) - a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! A few of you want Merlin and Arthur to come together, and I know you want your ship to happen, but please think about the logistics of this. In the first chapter Arthur raped Merlin. Merlin is a rape victim. Sometimes it's easy to overlook these things, especially if its your OTP, but it doesn’t excuse either of them for their mistakes they make in the relationship.  
> That being said, this chapter centers around Mordred. Its weird how they let a high schooler leave with a strange man, but in this AU, the werewolf society is extremely warlike. It is more of a ‘fend for yourself’ rather than ‘let us coddle you.

Mordred was in the middle of Latin class when he was called down to the office. In the back of his mind he was apprehensive, the last time he’d been called down Morgause was waiting for him with a dangerous grin and a proposal.  
This time it was a man, thin and tall, with black hair and blue eyes, leaning against the wall like he couldn’t care less. Mordred knew who he was instantly.  
“Hello, Merlin.”  
“Hello, Mordred.”  
Merlin shifted his eyes toward the receptionist, “Let’s take a walk.”  
Mordred knew this was a bad idea. He knew. But he really really didn’t want to go back to class and translate lines from the Aeneid. So he nodded, and followed the man outside.  
They walked. Merlin didn’t speak. It was weird. He just, didn’t talk.  
So Mordred broke the silence, "I don’t suppose you took me out of class in the middle of the day to go for a pleasant stroll around the lands of JFK High, did you?”  
“No, I didn’t.”  
More silence. Mordred was slightly insulted, was this some sort of joke? A game as to who could stay silent the longest?  
So he opened his mouth again, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”  
Merlin looked at him from the corners of his eyes, “Have you?”  
“Yes. Some very interesting things. Like how you owned a successful pack, led a happy Alpha life, and suddenly you pick a fight with Arthur Pendragon.”  
More silence.  
Mordred was getting angry now. “And then during the fight, you lose to him. And he mounts you like you’re his bitch.”  
Nothing about Merlin had changed. He kept walking forward with a straight face. But this time he did speak.  
“Do you think reciting events that have happened will make me angry?”  
Mordred shut his mouth because, good point.  
Merlin spoke, “You live with Morgause?”  
“Yes.”  
“Does she treat you well?”  
Mordred laughed at the question, because he was being forced to live with a pack who’d killed his mate and his pack, and Merlin was asking if they were treating him well.  
“Well enough."  
"What are your plans for after high school?"  
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"  
"Do you have the grades for college?"  
Mordred's mother always pushed for him to get high grades.  
"Yes."  
"Is that what you want to do next?"  
"Why do you care?"  
Merlin shrugged.  
Mordred changed the subject.  
"How is Arthur treating you?”  
"Very well."  
"Is he? He must be difficult to live with."  
Merlin was silent before he opened his mouth, "Do you see yourself living with Morgause for the rest of your life?"  
"You're asking far too many questions for my liking."  
"You don't have to answer them."  
Mordred rolled this around in his mind.  
"Morgause treats me fine."  
"Then why do you have bags under your eyes so dark it looks like makeup?"  
"I haven't been getting enough sleep, Morgause has nothing to do with that."  
"Morgause has everything to do with that. And if you're doing so fine, why do I see scars on your wrist?"  
"Old fighting scars, not self created."  
"Fights are seldom so clear cut."  
Mordred tried to read Merlin’s expression, but it gave nothing.  
"Why are you here Merlin?"  
"I'm here to offer you a way out of Morgause."  
Mordred was stunned into silence for a moment. "A way out...?"  
Then reality checked in. He gave a humorless laugh.  
"There is no 'way out'. Anyone who thinks there is is delusional. Even for your pack, there is no escape. Morgause will come, and she will slaughter all of your friends."  
"Just like she did to your pack."  
Mordred grit his teeth, "You've done your research."  
Merlin stopped walking, "Join us."  
"You're joking."  
"I'm not laughing."  
"Perhaps your should be. Carpe diem. Seize the day, especially because you have so few left."  
"Morgause killed your pack, your mate. Now you're helping her."  
"I'm preventing myself from a premature death."  
"By condemning countless others. What about Kara? She wouldn't want-"  
“How would you know what Kara wanted? You never knew her, you never will know her. You have no idea what she would think. Don't think to mention her name, omega." He spat out.  
Merlins eyes flashed with anger.  
"Omega?" He bit out, "Was that meant to insult me?"  
Mordred glared.  
There was a terse silence.  
Merlin sighed, "I apologize. Mentioning Kara was a low blow."  
It was a low blow, one that happened to hit Mordred right where it hurt. Kara would have rather died than be sucked into Morgause's pack. She was so much braver than him. She was also dead.  
"I won't join you. You don't stand a chance against Morgause. A pack of nine against a pack of twelve alphas?"  
If you join us, it would be ten to twelve."  
"Okay, fine. Let's say I join you. I live with your pack for the days leading up to the fight. What's to say that Arthur is any better than Morgause?"  
Merlin was silent for a second, brooding.  
"Arthur is not Morgause. He’s nothing like Morgause. Morgause wants power, she has a thirst for it that cannot be quenched. Arthur just wants his pack and his life."  
"He fucking raped you! All because he wanted your pack. And you’re telling me he's not power hungry."  
"But what was Morgause's reason for killing your pack? Power. What was Arthur's reason for taking mine? Fear. Arthur was afraid of Morgause killing Percy, Leon, and Lance. It's a story that begins with Morgause. Arthur is a good alpha, he's kind and a good leader. I've seen him keep our pack together when all we wanted to do was fall apart. So if you, even for a second, think that Arthur is anything like Morgause, think again."  
Mordred was stunned into silence. And then a small glimmer of something stupid tickled the back of his mind.  
"Do..do you actually think you can win this?"  
"I have hope."  
Mordred squashed the stupid little thing that had been trying to rebuild itself. It had been crushed so often it didn't take much self discipline this time.  
"You really are more stupid than I thought. My advice to you, Merlin, is to run. Get on a plane to Brazil, or India, or China. Pack your stuff and never look back. Then you can have your life."  
"And my advice to you, Mordred, is to join us. Stop running. Stop surviving and calling it living. Join the last chance you'll ever get to stand up to Morgause. Live a happy life and move on from the ghosts that are chasing you."  
Mordred didn't say anything.  
"You don't have to make up your mind now."  
Merlin pulled out a small notebook and tore a piece of paper out of it.  
"Here's my number. Call me if you need anything."  
Mordred took the paper slowly and stared at it.  
◯◯◯◯  
Arthur came home from work early to Merlin was sitting on the couch surfing the internet.  
“Did he join us?”  
Merlin shook his head and Arthur felt the small bundle of hope in his chest dissipate.  
"How was it?" Arthur asked.  
"It was....interesting."  
"What did you think of him?"  
"I spent some time testing him, seeing what he was like."  
"And?"  
"Quick to anger and quick to forgive. Kara is still a sore subject to him, which isn't surprising. He wasn't dumb. I asked him about his future and although he didn't give me direct answer, I do think he wants to go to college. It's doubtful Morgause will let him though. He's bitter, but I think he has a good heart. I think."  
"Is there a chance he might join us?"  
"He might. For a second I saw some hope on his face, but it quickly disappeared. I gave him my number and told him to call me."  
Arthur leaned back. His aim was to get Mordred on their side immediately. In the end, Mordred might be their only way of surviving.  
"I also.."  
Arthur threw a questioning look.  
"I think he might be depressed. He's tired, his seventeen year old face looks haggard, like he hasn't slept for a week. He had lines cut across his wrist, almost unnoticeable. When I pointed them out, he said they were from fights, but I've never seen battle scars look like that."  
Arthur ran his hands through his hair, "Well fuck."  
"Well fuck indeed."  
Arthur went to grab a water from the fridge and called Morgana.  
“Is Merlin back?”  
“Yup.”  
“Are we getting a Mordred?”  
“Nope.”  
“Damn.”  
“Yup.”  
“It was a long shot anyway. I’ll be back in time for training today.”  
She hung up.  
Arthur passed Merlin on the coach to go up to his room. Then he halted on the stairs,  
"Thanks, ya know. For taking the day off and talking to Mordred and stuff."  
Merlin didn't look up from his computer, "Don't mention it."  
Arthur nodded and went upstairs.  
◯◯◯◯  
Leon rushed into the sight of everyone sitting at the table, "Sorry I'm late, my boss wanted to talk to me."  
It was understood that pack meetings began when everyone was at the table. Most everyone held a job with normal hours with the exception of Percy, and even he had swung the 8-3 with his boss for the week.  
Leon took his seat.  
Arthur began, “Alright. As many of you’ve heard, we don’t have Mordred.”  
Leon had really thought that one would work.  
“Merlin, you want to give the details?”  
“We were safe in assuming Mordred hates Morgause, but he has too much self preservation to come to our side.”  
Morgana sat up, “What did you think of him?”  
“He’s clever, in a bitter sort of way. Pessimistic, although anyone in his situation would be. Far too realistic. He knows the numbers and he's not willing to take the risk. Its would be hopeless to lie to him about our chances.”  
Gwen spoke, “So, what we have to get him to do is make him hate his life so much that he’s willing to defy the odds.”  
Merlin snorted, “I’m not about making this kid’s life any worse.”  
“We won’t. Well, we might, but we’d only be causing it.”  
“Gwen, we’re not doing it.”  
“He might be our last chance for survival.”  
Merlin just stared at her, “No.”  
And now Leon understood why Merlin had been the Alpha of the pack before.  
Gwen grit her teeth, “Fine.”  
Arthur spoke, “So, thats a ‘no’ for Mordred. I did some research about every Alpha Morgause is holding in her pack. There’s twelve including her.”  
He passed them around. Leon flipped through his packet. Cenred. There was a page outlining his past and another describing his fighting style.  
There were three extra.  
Merlin looked up, “Does anyone have a man with greasy brown hair and yellow teeth?”  
Leon raised his packet.  
Merlin studied the picture, “Want to trade?”  
“Sure, why?”  
“He attacked me on the night Morgause came to ‘visit’ us. I’ve got a few choice words for him.”  
Leon was slightly unsettled by the look in Merlin’s eyes. He handed it over. His packet read Agravaine this time. Greasy brown hair seemed to be a trend in this pack.  
“Okay, so since we don’t have strength in numbers, we’re going to need to do some studying. The Alpha you hold in your hand is not definite, and I’ll probably switch it up once we decide which fighting style will be most effective. I also want a few of us to fight in pairs and take on three.”  
“Are we doing movie night again?” Freya asked.  
“Yes, partially reruns, partially not. Study the fighting style. We need to win this. Any other questions?”  
There were none.  
“Then let’s go kick some ass.”  
◯◯◯◯  
Arthur was in the middle of deciding if it would be a better idea to put Freya with Percy or Leon fighting-wise when Morgana knocked.  
“Come in.” He didn’t bother looking up as she leaned over his shoulder.  
“Put Freya with Leon. It’s too much suck together if you’re pairing Freya and Percy.”  
“That’s harsh.”  
“And true.”  
“Then who should I put Percy with?”  
“Gwaine, perhaps?”  
“I was thinking Merlin.”  
“No, Percy needs someone that will take a second to check if he’s okay or not. Merlin doesn’t have time for that.”  
“True.”  
“In the end, it doesn’t matter who fights who if you can’t defeat Morgause.”  
“That’s why I’ll do my best to beat Morgause.”  
“I realize it's tradition for head alpha to fight head alpha, but we’re not doing things exactly traditionally.”  
“I’m not letting you fight Morgause.”  
Morgana sighed, “Arthur, I’m a better fighter than you.”  
“Not by much.”  
It was a time old argument, one Morgana didn’t have time for right now.  
“Let me fight her, you can take two alphas at once, defeat them quickly, and then help out with Morgause.”  
“So can you.”  
“Arthur…”  
“Morgana, I know you’re trying to look out for me, but I highly doubt Morgause will fight anyone else besides me.”  
“No. She’ll fight any Pendragon.”  
“How about two at once?”  
“The Perez pack tried that. Morgause foresaw it and called her henchman to her side to take care of the beta and then proceeded to slaughter the Alpha. I suppose you remember that.”  
“Having rewatched that just an hour ago, believe it or not I do.” Arthur ran his fingers through his hair. “I’m still going to fight Morgause.”  
“Why? I’m a better fighter. I can take her down.”  
“I know we’re not doing things traditionally. And I know that I had to call you down to help us out. But this is my pack and I am their Alpha and part of my duty as an Alpha is to fight the leader. I know they’ll understand if you fight Morgause. But I also know that some little part of them will respect me less, part of me will respect me less.”  
“You have a death wish.”  
Arthur shrugged.  
Morgana grimaced, “If I see that you are in trouble, I will not hesitate to run over there and kill the bitch.”  
“I’m okay with that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Merlin is actually Daenerys Targaryen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well its a chapter of dialogue and I absolutely hate dialogue so..

“Jesus fuck Gwen!”  
“I’m sorry!”  
“Arthur, I’m never fighting her again.”  
“Sure Lance. Can we try pairings again? I want to see Gwaine and Percy against Leon.”  
“Can I please have some pity?”  
“Lance, scrape yourself up and deposit yourself outside the arena.”  
“You suck.”  
Merlin laughed and handed Lance an ice pack as he stumbled outside the arena.  
“You really need to work on defense.”  
Lance held the ice pack to his face, “Tell me about it.”  
Gwen walked up, “Is your eye okay? I’m pretty sure that’s going to be black tomorrow.”  
Lance smiled, “No apology! Not even a hint of guilt. Why does everyone hate me?”  
Leon called over his shoulder, “It’s your personality.”  
Lance flipped him off, “I’m not cheering for you at all.”  
Merlin settled in for the fight. Gwaine and Percy were good together. Gwaine had the ruthlessness that Percy couldn’t ever hope to achieve and Percy had the strength. Percy also seemed to have a sense of what moves Leon was going to use, but that just might be because they’ve known each other before.  
All in all, poor Leon didn’t stand a chance.  
Lance laughed as Leon stepped off, “Oh how the turns have tabled.”  
Leon took a second to catch his breath, “Stop trying to be funny, if I wanted a laugh I’d read Gwaine’s poetry to his girlfriend.”  
Gwaine’s head whipped around, “Hey! Who told you about that!”  
Freya stifled a laugh.  
Arthur smirked, “I do believe that answers your question Gwaine.”  
“Freya!”  
“I’m sorry! But it’s just so bad!”  
“Eira likes it!”  
“No she doesn’t.”  
“Alright, alright!,” Arthur was laughing as he spoke, “Enough. Gwaine, Percy, good job. Consider yourselves working together for the fight.”  
\---  
“For the last time, no! We’re not doing pizza and movies tonight. We’ve seen most of what can be seen on Morgause, and we should be eating healthier.”  
“But Arthur-”  
“You are not four Gwaine!”  
Merlin cut in, “No, he’s actually four. Remember that time I had to repeatedly ask you to do the dishes and it took you two days?”  
Gwen added to the story, “And then you were angry you had to do them and ‘accidentally’ dropped a plate out of spite?”  
Gwaine pouted, “It was an accident.”  
“Whatever.” Merlin said.  
\---  
Dinner together was an interesting event, Morgana thought. After the initial struggle of where everyone would sit, the evening evolved into a lot of small talk. But there was still a separation between packs. Arthur attempted to do a group discussion for a second but when it splintered off he didn’t bother bringing it back together. Merlin and Freya were off to the side having their own conversations. Morgana was able to hold a perfectly adult conversation with Gwaine and Gwen. It wasn’t perfect, but they were getting there. Maybe they’d make it after all.  
\---  
It was pitch black when Merlin woke up. He squinted at his phone screen.  
2:09  
Merlin.  
There it was again. That voice. Merlin threw his covers back and walk toward his bedroom door, careful not to trip of the various boxes lying around.  
Meerrlinn.  
What was that? It was almost calling him.  
He walked downstairs and unlocked the door, stepping outside tentatively.  
He decided to take a walk. He hadn't explored the forest around Arthur’s house, now was a good time.  
And Merlin knew, okay. He was literally going for a walk in the woods because he’d heard a voice. Wow this was a bad idea.  
He’d been walking in no particular direction for about twenty minutes when he stopped. Just stopped. Looked around. There was an array of old boulders and rocks scattered on the forest floor in front of him.  
Meeeeerrrrlliinnnn.  
He took a few steps forward, following the voice into the cluster of rocks.  
And yelled as the ground fell in beneath him.  
It was a few seconds of panic, of being completely blind and ignorant of what was happening around him. He struggled to find a grip on anything around him but most of what was falling around him was loose sand.  
He landed with a thud. Shit.  
But he hadn't broken anything. His ankle throbbed slightly, but he'd been lucky.  
So he wasn't injured and stuck in a hole, he was just stuck in a hole.  
It was pitch black. His ears strained to hear anything, but it was completely silent.  
He squinted, waiting for his nocturnal vision to kick in. It was darker in front of him, was that water? He squinted suspiciously at it before putting his hand out. It was just air. His eyes adjusted more. And then he realize he was standing in front of a hole. There didn’t seem to be a bottom. Shock hit him and he scrambled backward. If he'd fallen three feet forward…  
He stood up. There had to be a way out somewhere.  
“Hello Merlin.”  
He froze, “Hello?”  
“Hello!”  
“Who are you?”  
“I'm a friend.”  
Merlin turned in the sound of the voice, “Are you the one that's been calling me?”  
“The very one.”  
“Show yourself.”  
At first Merlin felt only a slight breeze blowing his way. Then the cave gave a shutter. And then the darkness exploded.  
It took a moment to process what was came to shape in front of him. A beast, with scales the color of earth and yellow eyes. It was the size of a two story building.  
Merlin froze in shock as a motherfucking dragon came and perched on a rock in front of him, tilting his head to the side.  
It's yellow eyes were trained on Merlin. He almost looked...curious.  
To Merlin it looked like he was about to get eaten.  
“My name is Kilgharrah.”  
Merlin’s muscles finally unfroze.  
“Holy shit.”  
The dragon preened, “Rather impressive, am I?”  
Merlin does his best to look nonchalant instead of terrified, “You’re okay.”  
The dragon shuttered and a weird noise came from from him. It took a minute for Merlin to realize that it was… chuckling.  
Merlin's head recovered from his shock, “I thought dragons became extinct centuries ago?”  
“Mostly. When dragon-slaying became a favorite past-time, most of us died. I do believe I’m the last one.”  
“Why did you keep calling me?”  
“I needed to speak to you.”  
“About what?”  
“A few things. Did you ever wonder how I managed to call your name?”  
“Yes, that had occurred to me.”  
“It was simple, I can do it right now.”  
Merlin.  
“And you can do that how..?”  
“Simple. Magic.”  
“That’s...that’s..”  
“Impossible?”  
“Unlikely.”  
“I could have sworn you were going to say impossible.”  
“Ten minutes ago I thought dragons were impossible.”  
“I’m glad you’re keeping an open mind, because about that magic thing…”  
“What..?”  
“The only way I can speak in other people's mind if they hold the gift of magic themselves.”  
“You’re saying I have magic.”  
“Yes.”  
“Okay. Prove it.”  
“Fine.”  
The dragon drew his head back and before Merlin knew what was happening, a burst of impossibly hot flames shot toward him. Merlin reacted as they engulfed him, sheltering himself with something that the dragon called magic.  
The dragon lowered his head and the brightness darkened.  
Merlin let down the shield, “What the fuck!”  
“You didn’t believe me.”  
“I do now.”  
“There’s your magic, Omega.”  
Instantly, wonder shifter to anger, “Omega?”  
“Do you take it as an insult?”  
“I...you-yes. I do take it as an insult, as does everyone else.”  
“Omega isn’t an insult, no more than Alpha or Beta is.”  
“Out there it is.”  
“Your grade doesn’t determine who you are Merlin.”  
“Everyone's grade dictates something about them.”  
“Yes, and it has for centuries, believe me, I know. It’s a tale that's been told ever since I was born and probably before. Omegas as property, Omegas as sex toys, Omegas as bad luck. But have you ever considered a place where it wasn’t so?”  
“Considered it, yes. Thought it possible, no.”  
“Grades have become less prominent throughout the years. Omega rights. Omega suffrage. You’d consider it to be almost equal.”  
“Alphas do.”  
“But you know better.”  
“Unfortunately.”  
“Merlin, do you know the history and dynamics of pack?”  
“You’d know it better than me.”  
“But I want to hear it from you.”  
“Okay. The pack is a system that has helped werewolves survive. The Alphas lead the Betas and Omegas. They provide leadership and order. The Betas follow the Alphas. They’re supposed to be loyal and devoted and willing to fight for their Alpha. The Omegas are more caring than either the Betas, they take care of the children and are pushed to become mates to Alphas. And..yea.”  
“That’s what you’ve learned?”  
“That’s what they’ve taught.”  
“That story has been told over and over again. Fabricated scientific experiments created to back the single story that everyone so wholeheartedly believes. Alphas lead, Betas follow, Omegas tend. It’s been taught so constantly and repeatedly that everyone’s eyes are shut tight against the truth. But your story did get one thing right, the pack has helped werewolves to survive. The pack is a organization..an agreement. Long ago, werewolves found that they could survive if they bound together in the comfort of a clan. The Betas allow Alphas to rule over them, and the Alpha is given power in exchange for the promise not to abuse it. This hasn’t always held, but in a perfect world perhaps it would. But Betas are swayed by their Alphas more than it seems. If an Alpha choses, they can force Betas to bend to their will. But Omegas have no such guarantee. They can defy any Alpha’s orders. The Omegas do much more than care, they advise. They’re essential to the pack. And for some reason this was twisted around in history to reduce Omegas to whores and bitches.”  
Merlin was silent for a moment, “But why do Omegas have heats if they were only meant as advisors?”  
“Thats a genetic formation ensuring that the clan could survive when the going got tough, it has no bearing on who a person is. Do you need more proof Omegas aren't just made for the sex and procreation society pushes them toward? Most of the great advisors in the past have been Omegas.”  
“Then why haven’t I heard of any great Omega advisors?”  
“It’s been covered up. Blanketed and covered because Omegas are weak and why prove they are anything but? In fact, many Omegas have masqueraded as Alphas in the past to get an education. Don’t be ashamed of your grade. You weren’t ashamed as an Alpha, don’t be ashamed as an Omega.”  
“How do you even know I used to be an Alpha anyway?”  
“Magic. How has being an Omega been for you?”  
“Its..different. The change was sudden.”  
“Yes, Omegagrade has never been a savory experience for those that lost.”  
“I think that the fact it was partially my fault makes it worse? I checked off the little box that warned of the option, but didn’t even think about.”  
“It’s because, as an Alpha, you didn’t have to face as many consequences as many others do. It makes you reckless.”  
“Well, I’m feeling the consequences now.”  
“How is your pack?”  
“Fine. My own pack treats me much the same way. I’ve noticed Frey’s worried glances toward me are fading, which is a relief, because she worries too much. Gwaine and Gwen avoid the topic of my Omeganess like a plague. I can’t judge, so do I. But I can tell they’re becoming attached to Arthur. We’ve been practice fighting for Morgause and that has actually brought us closer than anything else. As for Arthur’s pack, I don’t know them well enough to really pass a judgement on them, but they seem pretty nice.”  
“And Arthur?”  
“He’s-that’s-..It’s awkward. I mean, I’m pretty sure he feels bad for the Omegagrade and stuff, but I’m dealing with it. I don’t hold a grudge against him anymore. He’s probably a pretty chill dude, but I don’t intend to get to know him.”  
“You’re moving out if you win against Morgause?”  
“How far does this magic thing stretch for you? How much do you know?”  
“Give me a break. I get bored staying in this cave.”  
“Why don’t you just leave?”  
The dragon spread his wings and beat them once. The gust of wind was accompanied by a clanking noise, and Merlin saw a metal chain surround Kilgharrah’s ankle.  
“In the days of old it was sport to slay dragons. But one king went one step farther and captured a dragon. He forged a chain with the best sorcerers in the land. Their combined magic formed a puzzle so great even I cannot solve it after thousands of years.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“I’ve come to terms with it. The king was killed by another conqueror who never found me amidst all the twisted passages. I’ve been here for quite a while. But my magic does allude to the future, and it read that one day an Omega would free me.”  
“Is that why you called me? Not to explain to me the history of Alpha, Betas, and Omegas, but in hopes that I hold the spark that will free you?”  
“Yep. Plus I’m bored.”  
“How in the hell am I supposed to free you if you haven’t been able to for thousands of year?”  
“I don’t know. You might not even be the right Omega.”  
Merlin attempted to use his magic again, tried to reach for the power that he’d just touched. He couldn’t find it, “Why can’t I do it?”  
“You’re thinking too hard.”  
The dragon fixed his gaze onto Merlin. Merlin stared back, daring for something to happen.  
And then something did. He felt a nudge in his chest, and his eyes glowed yellow against his will. Merlin felt the magic all around him, there for him to bend to his will. It was almost welcoming. Kilgharrah broke his gaze and the feeling faded.  
Merlin shifted, “How many others have the gift? It’s said magic has been dead-”  
“For centuries?”  
“For a very long time.”  
“It’s not dead. It’s hiding. It will soon die out, I believe. But I still hope…”  
“Hope it will return?”  
“It’s not possible. Although you do seem to have a tremendous gift for it.”  
Merlin couldn’t feel anything now, “Do I? I’ve never noticed anything before.”  
“You’ve always had the gift, but it was hidden deep inside you. Now it’s at the surface.”  
“What made it come up?”  
“The Omegagrade. The huge shift in Grade triggered it to appear.”  
“Thats…”  
“Unlikely?”  
“Possible.”  
The dragon did the laughing thing again, “Possible indeed.”  
“So can I use my magic? I felt it when you poked at me, but I don’t feel anything now.”  
“Well, your magic is still hidden. It’s coming up in little blurbs, so if you really want to use it, you’re going to have to work on pulling it up.”  
An idea occurred to Merlin, “Could I use it to kill someone?”  
That was really not how he wanted to phrase the question. And he was slightly afraid for the answer.  
“Certainly. Magic is a tool, just like a knife. It can be useful, or, it can be deadly. But it takes a lot of magic to kill someone.”  
“Do I have enough?”  
“Certainly you have enough. But you don't have the control.”  
“How long, do you think?”  
“Maybe a year or so.”  
“But I only have a few days.”  
“Ah yes. Morgause. She’s quite the little troublemaker.”  
“Can you tell me my future?”  
“No. It's better to not know your future.”  
“Please?”  
“No. But I will teach you how to use your magic. Your training begins now.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My life sucks, but at least it doesn't suck as much as Mordred's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is quite a long chapter. There are so many different little details I want to capture in this story and I can never seem to quite get all of them in.  
> This switches off continually between Merlin and Mordred's POV. That was purposefully.  
> I def wrote some fluff between Arthur and Merlin because I was just so tired of writing depressing stuff.  
> Enjoy!

Merlin [Pack meeting?]  
Gwen [Good idea. After training today?]  
Merlin [If Freya can manage to stay awake]  
Freya [You’re just jealous I have a sleep schedule that you guys couldn’t even hope to manage.]  
Gwen [Touche. Who’s room?]  
Gwaine [I’d say mine but it's a mess, I haven’t unpacked yet.]  
Freya [I haven’t unpacked either. It seems pointless when you’re either going to die or move out in five days.]  
Gwen [Point]  
Merlin [Who’s room is the least amount of disaster?]  
Gwaine [Gwen?]  
Gwen [haha you’re funny]  
Merlin [Freya it is]  
Freya [Don’t expect cleanliness]  
▲▲▲▲  
It had been a long day. Well. Long didn’t even begin to sum it up. An infinite day. Mordred parked his car and leaned his head on the steering wheel. He’d failed his English test, the one he’d actually studied for. His grades were tanking faster than his motivation. He’d never get accepted into Mary and Washington at this rate, even if Morgause would allow him to go. Just a few moments of silence. If he could just avoid training today…  
There was a knock at the door. He looked up. Nimueh.  
“Come on Mordred. The sooner you get ready the sooner we begin.”  
“And the sooner it will be over.”  
“Yes.”  
Mordred sighed and opened the door, grabbing his backpack on the way out.  
Two hours or more of calculus homework. Fuck his teacher.  
Morgause’s house was despicably modern and minimalist. The first time he’d walked in he’d felt dirty and scruffy in his second hand shirts and old converses. And now? Well, nothing had changed.  
He tiptoed up the stairs and was lucky enough to only run into Cornelius, who just kinda grunted at him.  
“Hiya Corny! How you doin’?  
Corny glared at him, “I will cream you today.”  
“Unless I cream you first. Creamed corn has always been a favorite dish of mine. Bye Corny!”  
Mordred made it to his room and flopped onto his bed. He really needed to stop with the nicknames, plus he was tired of getting beat up. He used to think he was a pretty good fighter. A day of training with Morgause brought him down to earth. Literally.  
“Mordred! We’re starting in ten.”  
Mordred groaned into his pillow. He just wanted to sleep. Or die.  
He pushed off his bed in search for some workout clothes. He couldn’t be late, the last time he was Morgause had made absolute sure to beat the shit out of him during practice.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin concentrated on the cup of pens. He focused his energy into the pool of his stomach, imagining it flowing through his eyes and into the cup. If he could just make them move, just a centimeter...  
“Merlin?”  
He jumped and whipped around. Arthur was looking at him.  
“Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.”  
“No, it's fine.”  
“Okay, but we’re all about to go train in a few.”  
“I’ll be right there.”  
Merlin gave a last look at the pens and went to go find some sweats. He hadn’t exactly told anyone else of the dragon-sized secret. What was the point? He couldn’t even do magic anyway, let alone free a dragon from magic induced mangles. He yawned. The dragon had kept him for almost an hour in hopes of coaxing any spark of magic from Merlin. No luck. Merlin was beginning to think the entire thing was a hoax.  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred hit the ground. Odin was far stronger than Mordred. He’d also developed an undying hatred for Mordred ever since he thought it was a good idea to call him ‘Odor’. It wasn’t Mordred’s fault that Odin didn’t seem to know what a shower was.  
He jumped up. The more time spent on the ground, the larger the chance of pain. Of course, pain was unavoidable at this point, but no harm in delaying it for just a few.  
Odin charged, Mordred step sided, avoiding the claws that jutted out in an attempt to grab him. He swiftly shot his claws out to rake down Odin’s back, but Odin whipped around and grabbed his hand. Mordred attempted to release his arm but Odin wouldn’t let go. His claws dug in and he twisted.  
Mordred heard two cracks resound through his head and a motherload of pain shot through his arm.  
The edges of his vision went fuzzy and he fell to the ground, only concerned about the pain flooding his wrist.  
Odin took his chance and viciously kicked him in the stomach. Mordred curled up on himself as blows rained down. He glanced at Morgause and the rest of his pack watching, and then shut his eyes tight. They wouldn’t help him. Hadn’t before and wouldn’t now. Mordred, at that point, thankfully passed out.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin hit the ground. Shit. He rolled to a stand, backing to the end of the marked off arena to buy himself time.  
“Hey Gwen, you wouldn’t mind taking it just a bit easier, would you?”  
Gwen snorted, “Please.”  
“Too bad.”  
Merlin feigned to the right and caught her under the chin to the left. Gwen stumbled backward and Merlin dived forward and down, pulling a leg out from under her. She hit the ground.  
“Alright, alright. Fine. I surrender.”  
Merlin smirked and gave her a hand up.  
Morgana yelled, “Merlin, how is it you took the brunt of the blows and still managed to win?”  
“A little bit of endurance and a lot of luck.”  
Arthur nodded, “Truth. Can you and Gwen fight together?”  
Gwen shook her head, “We’ve tried it, it doesn’t go well.”  
Merlin chimed in, “Its rather.. uncoordinated.”  
Gwen groaned, “I accidently hit you once, and you never seem to forget about it.”  
“I had to get Freya to stitch me up!”  
Gwen made a motion with her arms, “Trivial.”  
Merlin opened his mouth and made an offended noise.  
Arthur made a mental note, “I suppose that's a ‘no’ for Merlin and Gwen.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred woke up to a throbbing pain everywhere. For a moment it seemed like that was all he was. Just a conglomeration of varying degrees of pain all trapped in one being. He shifted, and a spasm of pain went through his arm. Broken, most likely. Bone, so it would heal clean. He’d been lucky. He cracked open an eye. He was where they’d dragged him off, next to the arena. Cornelius was fighting Nimueh. Nimueh was going to win this one, no need to watch. Mordred closed his eyes again. He shouldn’t pretend to be asleep. He shouldn’t. But just five minutes of rest. Of healing. Please.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin watched Leon been the everliving shit out of Freya and drank some gatorade.  
“Do you think we have a chance of winning?”  
Merlin turned around. Gwaine.  
Gwaine still came to him as if Merlin was an Alpha still. Long live the loyal.  
“Yes. Yes, I do think we have a chance.”  
“Really?”  
Merlin thought there was like a 90% chance they’d all die.  
“Really. Morgause is fighting for power. We’re fighting for survival. So we’ll fight. And we’ll win. And then we can go back to our old house. Maybe we’ll send the Pendragon pack a Christmas card every year.”  
Gwaine laughed softly, “Yea. Maybe.”  
“You sound doubtful.”  
“It just seems so far off, ya’ know? And in the end I feel like this training is gonna be no good anyway, that when they come it's going to disintegrate into chaos in seconds.”  
“Seconds? At least say minutes. But yes. It won’t be an orderly planned affair. But we still have a better reason to fight then them. And it's not all bad, you and Percy make a great team.”  
“We do, don’t we?” Gwaine turned and looked at the large man, talking with Arthur at the other end of the area.  
“Do you like him?”  
“I do. He’s nice. Quiet. But he’s kind too.”  
Merlin looked at Gwaine from the corners of his eyes, “How’s Eira?”  
And then Gwaine got that soft puppydog look in his eyes, “Good. She’s doing really well at the Newspaper she writes at. Haven’t seen her much this week, didn’t want her coming around Arthur’s just yet. But we’re going out to lunch tomorrow. I told her about the slight chance of us dying and she seemed worried. So am I. I mean..just. I was thinking about asking her to be my mate before all of this started.”  
“Mate? Do you think you're ready?” Merlin tried to keep the disbelief out of his voice. He liked Eira, he really did. But becoming mates?  
“Well, I love her. And I’ve always dreamed about having pups of my own, and so has she. I know it's only been six months, but our relationship has always seemed like something special, something meaningful.”  
“Whatever makes you happy Gwaine. I’ll support you. You know Eira will always have a place as far as I’m concerned. Or you can leave and start your own pack. Whatever floats your boat.”  
Gwaine was looking a bit too tearful for Merlin’s liking, “Thank you Merlin. It means a lot.”  
“Don’t mention it.”  
“No really, it does. I want to win this fight, I need to. I want to marry Eira and have a happily ever after and go sailing into the sunset.”  
“Gwaine, you sound like a lovesick-” Omega. “You sound lovesick.”  
“Perhaps I am.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred felt footsteps walking toward him and the pit in his stomach grew even tighter.  
Morgause kicked him in the ankle, “Get up.”  
He creaked into a standing position, “I’m sorry-”  
“Save it. Follow me.”  
Mordred felt sick.  
All the Alphas were circling the arena, and Mordred meekly followed Morgause to the center. He wanted to run, far away. But Morgause was faster than him, better than him in every way. His wrist hurt. Alpha healing could only do so much.  
Every eye followed them and Mordred broke out into a cold sweat. He couldn’t do this, not today.  
He faced her in the arena.  
“You need to work on your defense.”  
And then she attacked.  
Fighting Morgause was like trying to avoid a hurricane. She came at you from all directions, so quick she was a deadly blur. Mordred dodged, clawed, punched, anything. He couldn’t touch her.  
The second time he fought her, he realized she held back the first time. She’d been playing with him. And he had thought they’d stand a chance against her. How stupid they had all been.  
Ignorance is bliss.  
But he wasn’t ignorant now. Morgause spun around him and he attempted to block uselessly. She was tapping him in various places.  
“I could give you a pretty deep cut here.”  
“A well placed jab here would render your left arm useless.”  
“You would die if I directed a punch here.”  
It was infuriatingly exhausting. She was playing with him, just as she had before. It was all a game. But Mordred didn’t want to play.  
Eventually she got bored and knocked him to the ground, slashing him across the face.  
“Next time you wake up from getting knocked out, you don’t lie there and pretend to sleep. Practice is over.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin rolled his shoulders around in a circle. Omega healing was different than Alpha healing. Not so much as slower, then just different. Merlin didn’t know how to explain it. Omega healing was more of an internal, deep feeling of muscles being knit together, and Alpha healing began at the top and made its way down. It wasn’t really comparable.  
He iced his elbow, Leon wasn’t a very nice fighter, which was great when they were fighting on the same side, but a tad bit more painful when they weren’t. Merlin had lost the match between him and Leon. He’d won when they’d first fought, no such luck this time. Leon had nailed him in the stomach and fuck if Merlin was gonna keep fighting when all he wanted to do was barf his guts out.  
But what made it slightly better was that everyone else was in pain to. The rest of the pack was scattered around the living room in various states of pain.  
Freya groaned, bringing ice to her swollen ankle, “Fuck you Lance.”  
“I'm sorry! This black eye isn't exactly painless either.”  
Leon was stretching his shoulders, “You up for cooking again, Percy?”  
“No.”  
“Pretty please?”  
“Ugly no.”  
Morgana stood up, “You can cook Leon.”  
“Nooo.”  
“Yesss.” Arthur said.  
“Fine. But you guys better be okay with spaghetti.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred attempted not to cringe every time he chewed a bite of food. Besides the slowly healing slashes Morgause had so kindly placed in his face, the food was really fucking bad. Like uneatable bad. Mordred reached for another roll. He hated when Agravaine cooked.  
Morgause was talking to Nimueh. They'd struck up some sort of a friendship after Morgause had murdered Nimueh’s pack. Funny, Mordred had problems looking at Morgause sometimes because of that. Agravaine and Cenred were getting in a fight. If Mordred cared enough he'd listen in. Too bad he didn't care. Instead he mentally catalogued the amount of work he'd have to do tonight. It wasn't pretty at all. Government test tomorrow. He was only two points away from an A, if he got above a 95 he might be able to swing it. Might. It was his last year of high school. He just wanted to go to Mary and William University. That's where his parents had met. Even though they were dead, it would be nice to feel even a bit closer to them. He'd done research, it was a beautiful college, solid academics. He and Kara had made plans to go there. But even if he didn't get accepted into Mary and William, if he could just get accepted into a college, and convince Morgause to let him go, he'd be free. Free to some extent. He wasn't disillusioned enough to believe Morgause would let him walk right out the door, but maybe, just maybe, he could swing college. He just had to make it though. One day at a time.  
“Mordred, could you pass the ketchup?” Isolde shook him out of his sleep deprived state.  
“Um.. Sure.”  
Mordred liked Isolde. Well, maybe ‘liked’ was too much of a positive. But she'd never gone out of her way to hurt him, and she always bought gigantic bottles of ketchup so they could all choke down the food.  
He handed her the bottle.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin grabbed the ice cream from Gwen’s hands.  
“Hey!”  
“What?” Merlin scooped some into his bowl, “You were taking to long.”  
Gwen stuck her tongue at him.  
“Mature.”  
Arthur had done them the wonderful favor of buying two cartons of ice cream while going grocery shopping. Merlin wondered how Arthur paid for groceries, the grocery list on the fridge door wasn't short, so it couldn't be cheap. Although, guessing by the house, Arthur wasn't entirely poor.  
Morgana stared at Merlin’s bowl, “Merlin! Don't eat all the ice cream!”  
“I'm gonna eat all the ice cream and there's nothing you can do about it!”  
Morgana flipped him off.  
Merlin grinned and handed the ice cream to her,  
“Many thanks.” She said sarcastically. She glanced at him furtively and added, “Also just as a question that I'm a bit curious about, and please tell me if this offends you, but how is fighting different as an Omega? I've always been interested in the different Grades but never got a chance to study it, but please, tell me if this offends you.”  
“No that's not offensive. I guess.. I don't know. At first it was a shock, ya’ know? But I think one of the biggest difference, and this might be obvious, is the loss of Alpha strength. I have to fall back on reflexes instead of strength.”  
“So there is a rather big difference.”  
“I wouldn't say it's huge. There's a difference, definitely. But it honestly isn't that much different. I suppose my stamina is a little less, but it's pretty easy to overcome that mentally.”  
“Fighting is 90% mental.”  
Merlin realized that the entire table was listening in with rapt attention. And then he remembered everyone had been tiptoeing around the Omegagrade. They were bound to have questions.  
“Hey!” Gwaine shouted toward Morgana, “Pass the ice cream!”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred laid his head on his hand. Just a few more questions, and then he'd be done. That's it. Then he could jump into bed and sleep.  
Sleep. What a rare and precious thing.  
He heard a knock at the door and froze. Morgause’s scent filtered through the door. Shit. His day wasn't over yet.  
Mordred stood up and woodenly opened the door.  
“You're still awake?”  
“Yes.”  
“It's late Mordred, and I need you on your tip top game for the fight against the Pendragons.”  
“I'll go to bed soon.”  
“The teenage brain needs around nine hours of sleep. You get around half of that, maybe.”  
“I got eight hours yesterday.”  
“I know you've been working hard, sweetie.”  
Mordred stayed mute and still, waiting for a move. She wouldn't kill him, she needed him to win against the Pendragon pack. Mordred hoped he wouldn't have to fight Merlin for that, it was harder to fight when you realized your opponent was not just a thing.  
“Maybe it's time for you to take a break.”  
Mordred didn’t catch her drift, “A break..?”  
“A break from school.”  
“What? No!”  
“Just for this week, mind you.”  
“No.” Mordred shook his head. “No.”  
“You could catch up on your sleep, get better at fighting.”  
Panic rose in the back of his throat, she couldn't do this to him, “I’d attendance fail! I can't attendance fail if I even want to have a shot at college.”  
“College?”  
And Mordred realized he might have spoken too fast, “I was.. thinking about maybe going to college.”  
“Were you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Would you go to the community college?”  
“I was thinking about Washington University.”  
He didn't dare speak about his dream school. Not to her.  
“Darling, I'm sorry. We might be able to talk about college later, perhaps a college close by. But for now, you're not going to school. Not until I know you can take care of yourself. I know this seems harsh, but you need to take care of yourself.”  
She left him there, silent, staring into the darkness. No. No. Not this. Not to him. Bile rose in his throat and he remembered why it was foolish to hope that there could ever be a happy ending for him.  
And then… he just kinda collapsed on the floor. His brain was too exhausted to feel anger and Mordred felt hot tears dripping down his face.  
Stupid stupid stupid. He'd been foolish. This was all his fault. He faintly knew that anyone awake at this hour would know that he was crying. Half of them would probably feel joy at the prospect.  
▲▲▲▲  
Gwaine looked around at the room, “Your room is way bigger than mine.”  
“That's your fault, I chose my bedroom with precision.”  
Freya was right when she said her bedroom wasn't clean. It seemed none of his pack had bothered to unpack either, and Merlin felt a surge of satisfaction because of it.  
“Where's Gwen?”  
“I thought she was talking to Morgana.” Freya said.  
Gwaine raised his eyebrows, “Ohh, I do believe they're rather good friends now.”  
“You could say that.” Freya replied.  
Merlin scented Gwen from down the hall, “She’s coming.”  
“Sorry I'm late.”  
“It's fine. But let's get started? I really need some sleep.”  
“Sounds good.”  
“Alright. So our old house is still under Arthur's name, but when he releases us, he'll also release anything in our name.”  
“Did he say that?”  
“No, but he'll give it back. We might not even have to ask.”  
“Mostly, we’ll only have to move in. But we already knew that. Mostly why I brought you here is because we’ll need an Alpha when we move out.”  
It was silent for a beat before Freya spoke, “Merlin, you were a really good Alpha.”  
“Thank you. But it's not about that now. When Arthur releases us, he'll need to bite one of the Betas so we can have an Alpha.”  
Gwen shifted, “It's a shame that we won't get Alpha power from killing in the Tournament.”  
Freya studied her, “Is there any way?”  
Gwen sighed unhappily, “There's no way. Tournament rules dictate no side shall have an unfair advantage over the other. No Alpha power will shift during the fight.”  
Gwaine spoke, “And you won’t become an Alpha if Arthur bites you?”  
“The best that would happen is I would be a Beta, and no, he can't bite more than once. One bite. One Alpha. I've thought of all this.”  
Again there was a silence, and then Gwaine spoke, “Then my vote goes to Gwen.”  
Freya raised her head, “I also vote for Gwen.”  
Merlin smiled, “I also vote for Gwen.”  
Gwen looked surprised, “Guys.. Thank you. I accept the claim for Alpha.”  
Merlin stood up, “Then it is decided. We should get some sleep. Congratulations Gwen.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred didn't realize he's fallen asleep until he woke up. He was on the floor, and everything hurt. He checked his phone. 2:33.  
Oh god. School began in less than five hours. Not that he would be going.  
His room was dark. There was one small window. Morgause liked small windows, something about the ‘aesthetic’. Mordred thought it was shit. He couldn't live here anymore. He couldn't. If he had to be homeless it was better than living here. Mechanically he got up and began to pack. There wasn’t much in his room. An empty shelf. A closet with some clothes haphazardly thrown around inside. Most of what he’d cared about had burned in the fire.  
Mostly he needed his schoolwork. Some clothes. That was it. Mordred ticked through the escape routes in his mind. Morgause owned him, anywhere he went. If Morgause didn't find him, the Police would, and they'd return him. If he went to school Morgause would find him. Anywhere. He had around $1000 saved, and that could only take him so far.  
Mordred looked at his phone. There was one place in this world Morgause couldn't touch him.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin was concentrating on the rock sitting in front of him. The dragon watched him.  
Merlin imagined the magic around him. Blue magic, mingling with his internal warmth. He imagined it surrounding him, filling him. Imagined it surging through his fingers and toward the rock.  
Nothing.  
Merlin sighed, “Can we stop? I've been doing this for an hour and I'm tired.”  
“No. Keep going. Your magic is unruly, free. You have to command it toward you and bend it to your rule.”  
Merlin was frustrated. It was two or three in the morning and his back hurt, “Maybe I'll just let it be free for now.” He attempted to contain the anger that bubbled up.  
“You need this magic.”  
“No I don't! You need it because for some reason you think it'll free you! You-”  
His phone beeped.  
Kilgharrah gave him a look, “I do believe you should answer that.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred drove. He had to resist the urge to look behind him. Morgause hadn’t caught him yet but she'd always been a light sleeper. If she found him on the way to the Pendragons then Mordred was pretty sure she'd kill him. A disobedience pack member she needed to win, a traitor could be killed without a second thought. He checked his phone to make sure he was going the right way. If he could just make it into the house then maybe he'd be safe. Maybe. Mordred didn't put any assurance into any uncertainty anymore.  
He missed the driveway four times before pulling in. The Pendragon driveway was long, like mile long. It gave Mordred plenty of time for the knot in his stomach to grow. He was taking a risk, a stupid, stupid risk. He had no idea how the Pendragon’s truly treated their pack. If the Omegagrade had anything to say about it, not well. There was a high chance that the Pendragons would be worse than Morgause. Even Morgause never outright raped anyone. According to Merlin, Pendragon was a great guy. Mordred thought Merlin was just been trying to save his own hide. Too many people wanted to save their own hide. Well, so did Mordred. He couldn't judge. He just wanted to get through senior year. If only he could live alone, or even with his friend Kay, who’d offered. Too bad Morgause fucking owned him.  
The Pendragon house was surrounded by forests and fields. Even at three in the morning it was a whole hell of a lot prettier than Morgause’s. The house was brick and actually looked pretty old. Mordred got out of the car. He didn't bring any of his things. In case things went bad he might need a quick escape. This was his last chance. If it didn’t go right then he’d have to flee as far as $1000 would take him and say goodbye to any education. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin knocked on Arthur’s door. No answer. He tried again. No answer.  
He tried the door knob. Unlocked. He went in. Arthur was splayed on the bed. With his hair rumpled and shirt riding up his belly, he looked almost..young.  
Merlin shook him, “Arthur.”  
Arthur jumped awake, eyes fearful. They turned to recognition when he saw Merlin.  
“Merlin? What’s wrong?”  
“Mordred is coming.”  
“Here? Why?”  
“I don’t know. He didn’t specify.”  
“How do you know?”  
“He texted me.”  
“Can I see it?”  
Merlin pulled out his phone and showed it to him.  
Mordred: [What is your address.”] Merlin: [3246 Shimley Lane] Mordred: [May I come over now?] Merlin: [Yes.] “Why is he awake at three in the morning?”  
Merlin shrugged, “Go figure.”  
“Why are you awake at three in the morning?”  
“I’m a light sleeper.”  
“Is he here?”  
“No.”  
“Then can I stay in bed?” Arthur whined.  
Merlin attempted to hide his smile, “No. You have to deal with this.”  
“But I don’t wanna!”  
“You have to.”  
“Don’t you want to sleep Merlin? It's three in the morning! You look tired.”  
“We’re all tired.”  
In a swift movement, Arthur pulled Merlin onto the bed. Merlin squeaked.  
He landed in a pile on top of Arthur. It was surprisingly comfortable. He was warm and smelled wonderful. Those damn Alpha pheromones.  
“Let me sleep.”  
“No.”  
“Please?”  
“I swear to god Mordred's gonna get here and you’ll be asleep.”  
“Do we even know what he wants?”  
“No idea.”  
Arthur sighed, “I guess I actually have to deal with this.”  
“Unfortunately.”  
Arthur sat up and Merlin rolled off.  
▲▲▲▲  
The kitchen lights were on and Mordred could see Merlin and a blond man through the window. He still knocked.  
Merlin opened the door, “Mordred.”  
“Merlin.”  
“Any particular reason for your visit?”  
“I want to join you.”  
Merlin gave him a measuring stare, “Why don’t you come in.”  
The blond Alpha was leaning against the island, “Hello Mordred.”  
“Hello, Arthur Pendragon.”  
The man chuckled, “Call me Arthur.”  
Merlin closed the door, “So, you want to join us?”  
“That's what I said.”  
“At three o'clock in the morning?” Arthur questioned. “Did something happen?”  
“If it did it’s none of your business.”  
“I do believe it is.”  
He was right, but Mordred wasn’t going to tell him anything.  
Merlin broke between him, “Will you fight with us against Morgause?”  
Mordred gave a small, terrifying smile, “Yes. I will.”  
Arthur stood, “How can we know this isn’t a trick?”  
“You don’t.”  
“Did Morgause send you to kill us?”  
Merlin looked appalled, “Arthur!”  
“I need to know.”  
Mordred didn’t have a response for him, “I didn’t come over to kill you and your pack. I have no loyalty to Morgause.”  
Arthur studied him, and Mordred did his best to meet his gaze.  
Arthur looked to Merlin, who responded by nodding his head once.  
“Okay Mordred. May I bite you now?”  
Mordred twisted his head to the side, revealing his neck. His alpha rebelled, but Mordred shoved it down. He’s submitted to worse.  
Arthur shifted into an Alpha form, and in one smooth move, sunk his teeth into his shoulder.  
The pain, Mordred didn’t mind. But he could feel his Alpha’s loyalties shift. That was what he couldn’t stand. The first time he’d felt that, he knew his parents and pack were dead. The second, he’d been bitten by Morgause. He didn’t know what this third time entailed.  
He looked to Arthur and Merlin. Pack.  
Merlin shifted, “You should get some sleep.”  
Arthur glanced toward Merlin, “We should all get some sleep.”  
Merlin motioned back toward his car, “I need to get my stuff.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin stared at the retreating figure, “What do you think?”  
Arthur ran his fingers through his hair, “I think that we should watch our back.”  
“You don’t trust him?”  
“I think he’s desperate.”  
“Aren't we all.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Arthur led him upstairs, “We have two bedrooms open.”  
Mordred didn't even bother looking at the second. He didn't care.  
“The bathroom is down the hall and to the left. Take a shower if you want, and don't forget to brush your teeth if you haven't.”  
Arthur closed the door and left.  
Brush my teeth?  
He hadn't been parented for quite some time now. The room was pretty, almost. It's walls were a light shade of beige and it was big, yet small enough to suggest coziness.  
The bed was filled with pillows. Seeing it, Mordred felt a surge of exhaustion, and toed off his boots. Brushing his teeth could wait.  
▲▲▲▲  
Arthur padded toward his bedroom. Merlin was already asleep in his room. He'd offered to show Mordred his bed but Arthur had told him to go to bed. It seemed by his breathing he'd fallen asleep the second his head had hit the pillow. Mordred was falling asleep right now. He hadn't brushed his teeth, Arthur thought with a frown. That boy had been thought a lot, too much for a seventeen year old.  
He got in bed. Hopefully, he could manage to sleep uninterrupted into the morning. Tomorrow was a Friday, only one more day to get through until the weekend. Although the way things were going, he didn’t think it would be quite the most relaxing weekend. And then there was going to be a Tournament. A funny little game that decided who was going to live and who was going to die.  
Arthur listened to the sound of his pack. Breathing in, and out. It seemed as if Mordred had fallen asleep.  
Good, it looked like the kid needed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am looking for a new beta.  
> No, not a werewolf. Just a person I can roll around ideas with. I may have already thought of an ending.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope (n) - the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving! Not my favorite chapter to write but here it is.

When Mordred walked into the kitchen, three head swiveled toward him.  
“Who are you?”  
“I’m Mordred.”  
“When did that happen?”  
“Last night?”  
Another beta spoke, “I go to bed pretty late and there wasn’t a new packmember then.”  
Mordred shrugged, “I just need some breakfast.”  
He stepsided around the large silent beta and grabbed the toast. And then he pretended like nothing was happening.  
He could hear the betas slowly beginning to move again and breathed a sigh of relief.  
A familiar voice spoke behind him, “You’re going to be late for school.”  
“I’m already late for school.”  
“No need to be later.”  
“Our school doesn’t care if you’re a minute or an hour late, they’ll mark it the same.”  
“All the same, better hurry.” Arthur began to scramble an egg.  
Mordred poured himself a cup of coffee. It was freshly made. He could get used to this.  
A different voice spoke, “Isn’t coffee bad for teenagers?”  
“Coffee is bad for everyone.”  
“Touche.” The man gave him a once over, “My name is Gwaine.”  
“Hello Gwaine.”  
One of the other betas, the woman, tugged the coffee pot from his hands, “I’m Freya.”  
“Hello.”  
Arthur nudged at the big one and he started, “I’m Percy.”  
He vaguely knew them all from following their previous pack fight. He wondered if they would get angry if he asked them about it.  
His toast popped up and he grabbed his backpack.   
Arthur called out behind him, “Have a good day at school, Mordred.”  
Mordred turned and looked back at his new Alpha. He had a funny feeling in his stomach that Arthur felt some sort of pity for him.  
“Bye.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Freya watched the retreating back of Mordred and turned to Arthur, “Well?”  
“Well what?”  
“Well, are you going to explain to your betas why we have a new packmember?”  
“He came in the middle of the night. Wanted to join us. He said he’d fight with us against Morgause.”  
Gwaine broke in “Middle of the night? Why then?”  
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell us anything. He said he would fight with us against Morgause. My best bet is that something happened.”  
“Three in the morning? I would say so.”  
Arthur eyed Gwaine, “You should get more sleep if you’re awake in the middle of the night.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Kay raised his eyebrows at Mordred, “Late morning?”  
Mordred slid into his seat, “Did I miss anything?”  
Kay looked at the board, “Nope.”  
Mrs. Robin was giving a lecture about Anglo-Saxons. But for now Kay was more interested in his friend. Mordred opened his backpack and pulled out his binder. He smelled different. For a second, Kay was puzzled, and then he wasn’t.  
“Dude! Are you not in Morgause’s pack anymore?”  
Mordred threw him a look in between scribbling down what was on the powerpoint, “No.”  
“What the hell? Why didn’t you tell me? How did you manage that? Whose pack are you in now?”  
“I didn’t tell you because you’d know Friday morning when we had class together.”  
“And?”  
Mordred threw him a look that read ‘What?’  
“Whose pack?”  
Mordred looked extra intently at his paper, “Pendragon.”  
It took a minute to process, “What!?”  
“Mr. Stevens, would it be too much to ask you to remain silent?”  
“Sorry Mrs. Robin.”  
Kay pretended to write a few things down before sneaking a look at Mordred, “What the fuck?!” He hissed.  
Mordred continued to pointedly ignore him. Fine. He could wait. But if Mordred thought that he’d be getting off with no questioning, he thought wrong.  
▲▲▲▲  
The bell rang.  
Instantly Kay was on him, “Dude! You gotta tell me.”  
Mordred sighed. Goddamn Kay. He couldn’t let things lie. “Fine. I got tired of Morgause, went to the Pendragons. Arthur said he’d take me in.”  
“You make it sound so simple.”  
“It is.”  
“No, it isn’t! You made a gigantic risk. What if Arthur loses the Tournament? What if Arthur had said no? What if Morgause had caught you?”  
“She didn’t catch me and Arthur said yes.”  
“Still.”  
There was a beat of silence before Kay spoke again, “So, what’s it like?”  
“What’s what like.”  
Kay sighed, “You know what I’m talking about.”  
“It’s fine.”  
“Come on! You gotta tell me something. Arthur Omegagraded that other Alpha, he can’t be the nicest person.”  
“His name is Merlin.”  
Kay threw him a questioning glance.  
“The one Arthur Omegagraded. His name is Merlin.”  
“Oh. How is he?”  
“Surprisingly okay with what Arthur did to him. I guess? Either that, or he’d really good at hiding emotions.”  
Better than me, Mordred thought. “I dunno. I don’t know them that well.”  
“But they are better? Better than Morgause, I mean.”  
Mordred paused for a beat, “Yes. They seem to be better than Morgause.”  
Anything was better than Morgause.  
He shouldered his backpack. People had already begun to talk. To secretly look and him and whisper among themselves. Mordred hated this.  
“Don’t worry about them.”  
“How can I not.”  
“They’re not even important.”  
“Still..”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred found the house unlocked. Good thing too. Arthur hadn’t given him the key. Mordred walked in and his heart skipped a beat when he saw an Alpha working on the table..   
For a moment he thought it was Morgause.  
But this woman had dark hair instead of light.  
She turned around when she heard him, “Our new packmember.”  
“That’s me.”  
“Hello. My name is Morgana.”  
“Arthur’s...sister?”  
“The very one. A pleasure to meet you, Arthur has told me a lot about you.”  
“Has he now.”   
“No, he hasn’t. I don’t think he knows anything about you at all.”  
If she was expecting a response, Mordred wasn’t going to give her one.  
“Why did you join us, Mordred?”  
“Morgause didn’t agree with me.”  
“No, she doesn’t agree with us either. But what happened exactly? Merlin told us you had no interest in joining us at all, and then you come in the middle of the night, completely on board.”  
“Nothing happened, I just thought about Merlin’s offer.”  
“At three in the morning?”  
“Middle of the night is a good time for thinking.”  
“Only if you fancy being sleep deprived.” Morgana turned to him, her tone suddenly serious,  
“What really happened? Don’t give an excuse. Something always happens at three in the morning.”  
“Why do you care?”  
“Because if your allegiance still lies with Morgause, and you turn on us at the Tournament, I want to be prepared.”  
“I have no allegiance with Morgause. She told me I couldn’t go to school anymore, and that she would probably not allow me to go to college. So I came here. I assume Arthur will let me go to college.”  
“Yes. Yes, he will. He might even pay for some of it.”  
“Then we both got what we want.”  
“If you turn on us during the fight, you will be my first target.”  
“I’m not a traitor.”  
“Sounds like something a traitor would say. Prepare to be questioned at the pack meeting today. We need every scrap of information we can get about her.” She continued typing on her computer.  
Mordred took it as his queue to leave, “See you then.”  
▲▲▲▲   
Morgana had been right when she warned him about being questioned. He was being grilled. About everything. Every angle, every direction, every way imaginable.  
“Did she have any lovers? Anyone within the pack, anyone coming in from the outside.”  
“I mean, there might have been something between her and Nimueh. But I’m not sure. No one from the outside ever came in.”  
“Ever? What if a packmember wanted to bring a friend in?”  
“It simply wasn’t done. There were a lot of invisible rules there.”  
“Such as?”  
“Um. Well, stuff like talking back. I mean you could if you really wanted to, but Morgause would make it a point to rough you up a little.”  
“Did that ever happen to you?”  
“Yea.” Mordred inwardly winced. He didn’t know what training would be like here, but he hoped it would be better than anything there.  
“You said there might have been something between her and Nimueh. Any other favorites?”  
“No. As far as I could tell, she treated us the same. She low-key hated all of us.”  
“Nimueh.” Arthur was doing some mental calculations. “Is she a good fighter?”  
“Good enough.”  
“Who has Nimueh?”  
The scruffy one raised his hand, “I do.”  
“Okay. Let’s go train. But first, who’s cooking dinner?”  
Lance spoke, “We should make a chart for that.”  
“I’m glad you offered Lance. How about you cook today, and also make the chart?”  
The entire pack ‘ooohhh’ and Lance glared at them.  
▲▲▲▲  
Percy watched Mordred and Merlin circled around each other when Freya walked up beside him, “Who do you think is going to win?  
“Wouldn’t know, haven’t seen Mordred fight.”  
Mordred made the first move. Percy studied them carefully, “My money is on Mordred as of now.”  
“They’re pretty evenly matched.”  
Fourteen minutes until a winner was declared, and when it was, Percy had been right.  
Merlin put his hand out, “Good match.”   
Mordred shook it and wiped the blood out of his eye, “Good match.”  
Arthur threw a water at him, “How was he compared to Nimueh?”  
“Pretty equal. When I fought against Nimueh, it really depended on who won or not.”  
Arthur weighed the decision in his mind, “And who would you say was their best fighter? Besides Morgause?”  
“Odin.”  
“The big hulking one?”  
“Yep.”  
“And when Morgause and Odin fought, who won?”  
“Odin.”   
“Always?”  
“Not always.”  
Arthur thought for a moment, “I want to see Freya and Leon fight together.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred hurt a lot less during dinner. For one, no one had gone out of their way to beat him up, and two, dinner was good. Like, eatable good. That Lance guy made quesadillas with chicken and beans and guacamole. Mordred took a big bite. Jesus, he loved food. The talk around the table was...well. It was talk. They were talking. Arguing, debating, telling stories. It was comforting. It reminded him of his family. And then he shoved that train of thought way down. Hope was a dangerous thing.  
“Do you like it?” That guy Lance was talking to him.  
Mordred really tried to answer him. He really did. But his mouth was really concerned with chewing and swallowing the food that he’s shoved into his mouth, so when he tried to say ‘Yea, it’s really good.’ It came out more like,  
“Ea t’s aly od.”  
Lance laughed, “I’m glad you like it.”  
Mordred gave him a thumbs up.  
Lance chatted with him for a bit, and it was really nice, if a bit awkward. Morgana talked to him some, and she seemed a lot less scary now. Merlin cut into their conversation to tell them about the pregnant beluga whale he was working with. It was nice. It was so much better than Morgause that just for a moment Mordred let himself believe that it would be okay.  
“Come on Arthur! Let’s have movie night! It’s Friday and we have a new packmember!” Gwaine whined.  
Arthur sighed, “Fine. But only one movie, and we still have to train tomorrow.”  
The table cheered.  
▲▲▲▲  
After ten minutes of heated debate between movie options, Arthur had made the decision to watch Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy. It was quite good. Mordred had sat next to Arthur on the couch. Gwen had laid beside them both and rested her legs on their laps. The pack just seemed so together. It was chill. Some cuddled, some just laid together in peace. Freya had fallen asleep and Merlin had carried her to her room. It was all very calm. When he’d dragged himself back to his room he’d stared at his backpack and turned away. Homework could wait. It was friday anyway. He looked around his room. It was bare. Mordred thought it would stay that way for a while. The second his head touched the pillow his eyes began to feel heavy. And then he did something he hadn’t done for a while. He sent out his scenes. He heard Percy taking a shower. Gwaine was on his phone talking to someone. His mother? She sounded worried. Gwen was on the internet. Arthur smelled like he was worried. They were all worried. The tournament was in three days. Merlin was..he was walking out of the house. He’d just closed the door behind him. That was weird. Perhaps he needed something from his car. Either way, Mordred was tired. Sleep reached him, pulling him down, and Mordred went gratefully.  
▲▲▲▲  
“Focus, Merlin. Focus.”  
“I am focusing!”  
“Follow the sound of my voice. Close your eyes. The world is filled with particles of magic. Flying around, waiting to be used. You, even, are filled with them. Red magic, surrounding you, filling you. Outside you have blue magic, bright blue magic. You breathe it in, and the red and blue magic form a dance, together. They twirl around, intermingling and mixing. You guide it to your fingertips.You open your eyes, and you see the rock in front of you. It’s not a large thing. Slightly dirty, and easy to pick up. The magic tingles in your fingertips and you send it toward the rock.”  
And then, right in front of Merlin’s very eyes, he sees the rock levitate. In his shock he loses his focus and the rock tumbles to the ground.  
“Did you see that?! Oh my god, I actually did it! It actually lifted off the ground! Holy Shit!”  
If ever a dragon could look pleased, this one did, “Finally. The wall within you has begun to crack.”  
“Now, do I get a break?”  
“Now, the real work starts.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season One, "Excalibur" (To Uther) Arthur: "I... always thought that...That...I was a big disappointment to you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo! Bit late, but almost 6000 words.  
> The Bechdel test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.  
> Soooo many fanfics are sexist. And I'm trying really hard to make this one not. Merlin itself doesn't have too many female characters. But its also set in like the 5th century so..

“Mom! Mom. I know you’re worried. But I promise. Everything’s okay.”  
“Sweetie, you know I worry about you.”  
“Only too well.”  
“But you’re feeling better? You didn’t sound too happy the last time I was on the phone with you. You had me worried. I know Omegagrade is not an easy thing to recover from.”  
“It isn’t. But I’m okay now. I promise.”  
“And Arthur, he’s still treating you right?”  
“Yes, mum. He’s been nothing but fair. To me and the rest of us.”  
“Good. I couldn’t bear the thought of you being mistreated. How is training coming along?”  
“Well enough. We got Mordred.”  
“You got Mordred? That’s fantastic.”  
“Yes, he came in the middle of the night to join us.”  
“So it’s ten to twelve now?”  
“Yes. Our chances of winning grow.”  
“They’re not large enough for me to stop worrying.”  
“Nothing is enough for you to stop worrying. You don’t need to though. I have faith in us, and especially with Mordred, I do think we are gonna win this. I really do.”  
He didn't think they'd stand a chance. But she didn't need to know that.  
“Merlin, you’re my only son. If Morgause was to kill you...it wouldn’t be pretty. I know you have a legitimate chance of dying, and I know you’re lying to me. The Omegagrade was bad enough, but this...this is horrific. I’ll not stop blaming that Alpha for getting you all mixed up in this.”  
“I know mom. I know. But I gotta go okay? I’ll call you later.”  
“I love you.”  
“Love you too.”  
Merlin hung up the phone and sighed. His mum would be alone if he died. Well not alone. She had friends, and everyone at the hospital loved her. But she didn’t deserve to have her only son murdered by a power-hungry bitch.  
He walked downstairs. Percy was making pancakes. He was such a dad it was ridiculous. Freya had a plate of stacked pancakes in front of her.  
“-ctually own the bar downtown.”  
“Do you really? The one that opened up last year?  
“Yea. For a while I was worried it would flop, but it’s still alive so something must be happening right.”  
Merlin grabbed a plate and gave it to Percy, who returned it with a stack of beauty.  
Merlin sat next to Freya, “Do you always cook?”  
“Usually. When I feel like it. I actually went to culinary school up in Houston.”  
Merlin took a bite and closed his eyes, “It shows.”  
“Thanks. Pancakes aren't that hard though.”  
Freya poured more syrup on hers, “So, what do you find hard to cook?”  
“Crepes. Filo dough.”  
Lance walked in the room, “You should see him watch The Great British Bake Off.”  
“Please, you like to watch it too.”  
“Who doesn’t like to watch it?”  
▲▲▲▲  
“Gwaine, wake up!”  
All Arthur heard in response was a groan.  
He pounded on the door, “Come on Gwaine. Percy's made pancakes.”  
“Alright, alright. I'm coming.”  
One down.  
“Good morning Mordred!”  
“Gwen? Percy's make pancakes!”  
“Morga-”  
“I'm awake, for god's sake, shut the hell up!”  
“Leon?”  
“Did Percy make pancakes?”  
“Yea, and I think he's made some chocolate chip ones.”  
“I'm awake.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred was okay. Not entirely happy. Not entirely sad. Just okay. But okay was good. He wasn't constantly on the edge, and he wasn't happy enough to forget was falling felt like. The dark circles under his eyes had receded somewhat, and his scent had turned from the sharp scent of fear and stress to a more mellow smell of alright. He was okay. Arthur wasn’t going to sabotage him, wasn’t going to hurt him. It was okay. For now.  
He finished spraying his pancakes with whipped cream. They were good. Insanely good. Better than the ones he made. Eira liked his pancakes. He always made them on Sunday mornings, and sometimes, if anyone happened to get it, he’d make them with blueberries. He stared down at his pancake.  
Looking back, he wasn’t a very good Alpha. There’d been three in his pack. Kara, Lucan, Priya. They’d all been forced to get jobs so they could pay for mortgage and groceries. He still wondered why they followed him into battle. Perhaps because they had no other options. Daniel couldn’t stand his stepfather. Priya was raped by her Uncle. And Kara...well.  
“Hey, you okay?” Merlin’s voice shook him out of his mind.  
“Oh. Yea. Just...nothing.” For a moment Mordred thought of telling him. For a moment.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Positive.”  
“Alright. Eat your pancakes before they get too cold.”  
▲▲▲▲  
“I sincerely hope you didn’t eat too many pancakes this morning.”  
Arthur’s statement was followed by a chorus of groans.  
“I figured we'd train of the field we’re going to fight on. We do get the advantage of home turf.”  
Arthur led them to the field on the edge of the forest, just far away enough so you couldn't see it from the house.  
It wasn't lost on Freya how Arthur put Merlin on his team. Clever. Arthur could ill afford a reminder on how he'd brought them all together.  
Morgana, Percy, Gwaine, Leon and herself.  
Arthur, Mordred, Merlin, Gwen, Lance.  
Pretty fair.  
Morgana was giving a pep talk, “Alright guys. Us v them. Now of course, this isn't the real thing. And do try not to kill them. But let's be vicious. Let's be victorious.”  
They lined up. Freya picked her target. Honestly, she wasn't a horrible fighter. She had reflexes and knew the basic moves. But when you compared her to someone like Arthur or Gwen, well.  
“Alright guys. On the count of three.”  
“One…”  
Freya unsheathed her claws.  
“Two…”  
She picked a target.  
“Three.”  
And then they were forward, running as fast as they could and in the blink of an eye, claws met claws and blood was being spilled.  
Freya met Lance and sliced the side of his neck a tad too harsh. She had really thought he would block that. He shoved her backwards and she stumbling, knowing that if she didn't regain her footing then she was dead. Well fake dead. But out of the game. Lance didn't push his advantage, partly, she hoped, because it wasn't the real thing. None of Morgause’s pack would give her a second. Or perhaps they would. The most terrifying aspect of this whole thing, is that they needed to treat every Alpha from the other pack as monsters. But they weren't, were they? They were their own being, with their own thoughts and feelings, who suffered tragedies and defeats and still continued. Perhaps some were as vulnerable as Mordred, just waiting for their lives to get better, too afraid of Morgause and too trapped to leave. But she couldn't afford to feel pity at the moment, and Freya shoved the compassion from her mind and advanced on Lance.  
One good moment is all it would take to find an opening to kill.  
She ducked under his backfist, and aimed a jab at his sternum. He leaped back in the nick of time, but his knee jerked meet her head in a sickening crunch, and Freya’s head jerked back at the force. Her vision darkened for a moment and she was tempted to pass out. But no. Not right now. She couldn't die, and just for a moment, she forgot it wasn't real.  
And then, everything was black. Tunnels of blackness, echoes of sound. It was all dark. And then something caught her eye. Lance’s eyes were fearful. And everything slowly went back into focus.  
Freya dropped Lance’s arm as she came back into herself. He dragged himself away. Freya brought her hand to her nose. It was bloody, most likely broken. And then the sounds around her returned to her ears. The fight was still going on.  
Lance was staring at her, muscles tense to run away.  
She stared at him, “Are you okay?”  
“Yea.” That was a lie, but she didn't call him out on it.  
She held out her hand, “I'm sorry. I blacked out.” It happens when I lose my grip on reality.  
“Hey,” Lance gave a laugh that sounded more like a cat being tortured, “Who knew we had the hulk on our side?”  
She smiled at him gratefully. It was kind of him to make jokes, especially because she had no idea in the world what she did to him while blacked out.  
“I'm sorry. How bad are your injuries?”  
Lance winced, “I..um.. I think I have a broken rib? And you hit my ears once or twice. I think I'll wait until my ears stop ringing.”  
He wasn't lying, per se, more like stretching the truth.  
“And your ankle?”  
“Um. I may have twisted it as I fell.”  
Shit. She must have thrown him through the air.  
Morgana yelled their way, “Pick it up, cupcakes. We're not here to stand around all day.”  
Lance must have seen the worry on her face, “I'm okay. I promise. It'll heal. Give me an hour or two, I'll be good as new. I bounce back.”  
“I'm really sorry.”  
“It's fine, I swear to god. Plus, that will come in handy when we have to fight the real thing.”  
Morgana shouted in the middle of fighting Merlin, “Freya! You don't console dead men! and I could really use some help here!”  
“Sorry again!” And with that Freya shakily raced to help Morgana.  
▲▲▲▲  
In the end Arthur’s team did win.  
“Alright guys. Sandwiches for lunch, and meet me at the arena at 1 o' clock.  
They made their way back to the house.  
“Did it happen again?” Merlin spoke in a low voice.”  
“Yes. I almost killed Lance.”  
“I wondered why I saw him flying across the field.”  
Freya winced.  
“Sorry,” Merlin said, “Too soon?”  
“No. It's fine. I could have killed him. I had him by the arm, claws positioned ready to swipe through his throat.” The image had been seared into her memory.  
Merlin cringed, “But you didn't kill him. You realized yourself in time, and Lance is fine.”  
But during the Tournament, I will have to kill. I'll have to rake my claws through someone’s flesh, and I'll do it with the intent to kill.  
“Yes. You're right.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Percy handed Freya a bottle of water, “Are you okay?”  
She opened it shakily, “Yea.”  
“Are you sure? You seem..off.”  
“Have you heard that some people black out when they fight?”  
“Yea, something to do with adrenaline.”  
“Well, that happened. I almost killed poor Lance.”  
“I’m sure he can handle it.”  
Percy looked around, Lance was sitting down and icing his ankle.  
“What happened to trigger something so drastic?”  
“I just, well, freaked out. It hit me at once, ya know? That we have to fight against Morgause. The training is fine. But it’s preparing for the real thing. And we’re probably going to have to kill people. And people will be trying to kill us. My family is worried sick about me.”  
Percy nodded solemnly, he’d thought about it too, “I don’t know who’s going to take care of my pub if I die, and I haven’t thought about it either. I just shove the idea to the back of my head. I’m not ready to die.”  
“No. But I have notified my boss. I got an email that they want me to look for potential subs for my class.”  
“You teach?”  
“English. At the middle school. When I was at college I really wanted an English degree, and they told me I wouldn’t be able to find a job that pays well.”  
“And you get payed well now?”  
“Nope. My salary is shit. But the only thing I felt I was truly good at was writing, and I wasn’t about to change my major so I could prove a few people wrong.”  
Percy stared at her for a moment, “That’s brave.”  
“No, it isn’t. It’s stubborn and sticking to your values.”  
“Sometimes stubbornness is a certain type of bravery.”  
“Well, I’m stubborn enough to not want to die.”  
“That’s more of a common sense thing.”  
“Indeed.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Mordred finished up his sandwich and looked at the time. Still had about an hour of free time. He should probably get started on his calculus homework. Should. Maybe he'd just relax though. Stay in bed and mess around on the Internet. He should probably do his homework though.  
He was the last one to finish eating. Everyone else had gone. Except Morgana. She was sitting in her designated spot on the table and tapping away on her keyboard. What she was doing all the time, Mordred didn't know.  
“What do you do on your computer?”  
She didn't look away from here screen, “Answer emails, watch porn, edit my schedule, keep in touch with my pack, control my company.”  
“Your pack?”  
“You didn't like I'd let my little brother be my Alpha, did you? He actually used to be in my pack, for a short while.”  
“Oh.”  
Mordred moved past her to go to his room.  
But Morgana grabbed his arm. Mordred jerked back reflexively, tugging himself away.  
She turned it over, examining his wrist.  
“Let go!”  
Morgana’s fingers dug into his arm, and Mordred’s tongue filled with excuses.  
“They’re battle scars.”  
Morgana looked up at him.  
“You should talk to Arthur about that.”  
"Talk to Arthur..."  
Morgana turned her head and yelled up the stairs, "Arthur?"  
“Yes?”  
"Could you come down here for a second?"  
Mordred attempted to jerk his arm back, but she held it with a vice like strength.  
"Let..go." He fought her, tearing his arm back viciously.  
Arthur walked down the stairs, "Is there a problem?”  
Mordred stilled, and Morgana held up his wrist for Arthur to inspect.  
Ignoring the half uttered protests lying on Mordred’s lips, Arthur’s eyes scanned the skin there.  
Arthur’s expression was unreadable.  
“Let’s go for a walk.”  
Mordred followed him, anxiety churning his stomach, because even though Arthur wasn’t Morgause, ‘Let’s go for a walk’ has never, ever been a good sign.  
Arthur led him into the forest. Mordred loved this forest, even if he’d just met it. It was soothing, calming. It made his wolf content. It wasn’t doing anything for his stomach right now though. Arthur.. he wouldn’t actually do anything to him. He was a generally okay dude. But Mordred hadn’t exactly known him all that long. He could be a psychopath. What if he was as bad a Morgause, but he hid it better? He was so caught up in his thoughts that when Arthur stopped, Mordred ran right into him.  
“Oh!” He looked around. They were in the middle of the forest. Nothing special. He looked at Arthur questionably.  
“Do you know why Morgause hates our pack so passionately?”  
Mordred shrugged, “I know that you have a history.”  
“Alright. You know I have a father.”  
“Most people do.”  
“His name is Uther.”  
“Ah.” Mordred had heard whispers of that name during his time in the Alpha pack. Ghosts of names, rumors of events. But a story never fully emerged, and no one dared ask.  
“Uther had an affair with his wife's sister, and that women had twins. She named then Morgana and Morgause.”  
It took a second for Mordred to process. And another second to completely react.  
“Morgana is Morgause's sister?”  
“Yep.”  
“They look nothing alike.”  
“Well, I don't look much like my father either.”  
“I wouldn't know.”  
“No. You wouldn't. But as you can perceive from the story, my father wasn't a very good man.”  
“No.”  
“And sometimes when you're surrounded by bad people it leads to bad experiences and situations. Especially when you have to rely on them.”  
“What are you getting at?”  
Arthur pulled back the sleeves on his shirt and showed Mordred his upturned wrist.  
“This is what I'm getting at, Mordred.”  
Mordred’s face stilled as his eyes surveyed the myriad of scars.  
It was horrifying.  
Mordred took a step back, “You?” His voice was low in disbelief.  
Arthur lowered his arm “Me.”  
“But..”  
“But?”  
“Nothing. I just would have never thought…”  
“We all have problems, Mordred. I'd tell you some from the rest of the pack, but it's not my story to tell.”  
Mordred nodded. His eyes flickered to Arthur's arm, “Why?”  
“You tell me.”  
“We all have our own story.”  
Arthur nodded once, before opening his mouth, “I was feeling numb. My father was pushing me into directions I didn't want to go in. Life wasn't peachy. Sometimes there are days when you don't want to get out of bed.”  
It was a vast understatement, and Mordred knew it.  
“But it wasn't my fault. I loved my father. Followed him around, wanted to be just like him. And when someone you look up to plans your life out, you see it as the best opportunity. But then suddenly, you look around, and you realize you hate everything around you, and you feel like there's no way out. But there's always a way out. Sometimes you just have to be brave, and take a big step. Or sometimes you just have to be brave and hold out for when it does get better.”  
Arthur was silent for a moment, “Now, I don't pretend to know your reasons, but it takes courage to hope, and to do what you did. You might have done it out of complete desperation. But still, give happiness a try, Mordred.”  
I won't, Mordred thought. I will never have any foolish hope in my heart again. I'd rather be grim than disillusioned.  
“Sometimes happiness can be elusive. But I want you to know that no one in this pack will harm you. But if I ever catch you with a razor, then I do believe we will have problem.”  
“No. You won't. I'm done with it.”  
“We both know it doesn't work like that.”  
“Why are you doing this?” Because Mordred knew Arthur was a great guy and all that jazz, but he was hearing a lot about Arthur's past that probably very few people have heard about.  
“You're pack. Come on, we still have a half hour before break ends.”  
Pack. Mordred thought as they loped back to the forest in silence. Pack had led to very little joy in his life.  
▲▲▲▲  
Arthur saw his pack had had enough all out fighting for the day. Gwen was sporting a rather large black eye, and Lance was limping.  
But the real question was if they could afford to break right now. They had three days, including today. It had been a rough week. For everyone.  
His assignments at work had been stacking up as he'd thought his job was slightly less important that the Tournament that dictated his entire future. That combined with that beautiful mix of stress and not enough sleep, as well as attempting to keep the pack together..well.  
He yelled up the stairs, “Guys, single combat. Meet me there in ten.”  
Leon was first, Gwaine was last. Arthur had begun to realize it wasn’t even a sign of disrespect at this point, he was just chronically late.  
“Alright, let's practice one on ones. Back to the basics. Remember, all you need is one good opening. Pressure points on the body, most vulnerable include clavicle, stomach, groin, back of the knee, and sometimes the shin. Let’s go. Leon and Merlin are up first.”  
▲▲▲▲  
It wasn't that Arthur's pack was opposed to fighting. Most of them knew that practicing was the only way in the world they stood a chance at all against Morgause. It was that they were tired, and stressed, and absolutely beat up. You'd think it’d get better, but even as you become better at dodging, your opponent is getting better at catching your dodges. The sky was overcast, the mood was blasé. They were already tired from this morning. Morgana was about to tell Arthur to call it quits. There was no use, although when he suggested that she and Gwen ‘have a go’, then Morgana’s ears perked up.  
She walked into the arena. If it could be called that. It was more of a dusty clearing with blood stains. But Morgana liked it better like that. All these new, high tech, foam padded arena were too...clean. And it wasn’t a clean sport.  
“Gwen? Ready to get your ass kicked?” She called out sweetly.  
“Oh, Morgana. I don’t come prepared for defeat when I’m fighting anyone, let alone you.”  
“It’s always good to be prepared.”  
“Then prepare yourself.”  
Morgana smiled. And attacked.  
Morgana enjoyed fighting Gwen. She didn’t have to check her strength, didn’t have to be on autopilot. Gwen didn’t use the same tactic each and every time. It was interesting.  
Morgana threw a carefully aimed punch forward, more as a scare tactic than with the intention of meeting flesh. Gwen jumped back and gave a swift sidekick in response. Morgana had been expecting a punch. Gwen’s leg met her side. She registered pain for a moment, and her head met the dirt. Now she remembered why arenas were normally covered in a mat. She didn’t dwell on the thought. Gwen was advancing and the number one cause of losing-both in the arena and in life-was not getting up when someone had knocked you down. Morgana’s hand blocked the swipe Gwen had intended for her face, and she pulled down on that hand, unbalancing her opponent and then shoving her backward with her feet.  
That should earn her a few seconds.  
Morgana got back up and Gwen regained her balance.  
This time Gwen was the one to attack. And she didn’t do it as a scare tactic.  
Morgana was on defence, blocking what she could and taking the rest. Diving ducking.  
And then one of Gwen’s hands was a touch too slow.  
Morgana grabbed it. She could have easily broken it if she’d wanted. Gwen would heal, slowly, because Morgana was an Alpha, but in time to fight for the Tournament. And Morgana would win the fight.  
But instead she drew Gwen in close.  
Gwen growled through gritted teeth, “Let go of me.”  
She knew Morgana was playing with her. Morgana captured Gwen’s other wildly struggling hand with ease.  
And then, in a voice soft enough that only Gwen could hear, “You weren’t saying that last night my dear.”  
And then she released her.  
Gwen stared at her for a second. And then she smiled.  
And Morgana loved her for it.  
They circled.  
Morgana moved. Gwen dodged. It was still a fight, but it was also a game.  
And Morgana loved games.  
Gwen aimed a backfist toward Morgana’s face, and Morgana treasured her face too much to take the slap and be in the perfect position to pull her on the ground. So she dodged. Gwen took the opportunity to jab Morgana’s rib. She heard a crack. Just one, thankfully. It would heal. Morgana returned the favor with an uppercut.  
Gwen stumbled backward and Morgana spun around, delivering Gwen a nice overhand. But where Gwen was supposed to be, well. She wasn’t. Morgana’s fist spun uselessly through the air. The weight of the punch threw her off, and quick as a shadow, Gwen was on her.  
She grabbed Morgana, throwing her backward, then gripping her throat, “If I recall correctly, you didn’t say much either. I believe the most I heard from you was ‘fuck’ and.” And then Gwen did a very good impression of what Morgana sounded like in the middle of an organsm.  
Morgana smiled as Gwen set her free. Well played.  
Gwen attacked. Morgana blocked.  
Morgana aimed the palm of her hand into Gwen’s abdomen, Gwen met her hand with a fist of her own. They struggled, for a second, before Morgana sliced her claws into Gwen’s wrist. Not deep enough to do damage that wouldn’t heal in the next day, but deep enough for a nice memory.  
Gwen hit her in the stomach.  
“Ah..shit.” Morgana couldn’t help the curse word that escaped her. Ignore the pain. Ignore the pain. Morgana didn’t like losing games.  
She attacked. And Gwen was ready for her. Or so Morgana thought. Because after the first few punches Morgana had so expertly aimed, Gwen’s blocks became slower. She craned her neck to look behind Morgana. Against her better judgement, Morgana looked too. There was an omega standing there. She looked back at Gwen, but it would seem that their fight was over for now. The pack looked to where Gwen was staring.  
The man was wearing a scarf. He threw up his hand, “Hi.”  
▲▲▲▲  
“Who are you?” Arthur spoke first.  
“My name is Elyan.”  
“Why are you here?”  
“I’m here to see Gwen.”  
“Gwen?”  
She nodded and walked off the arena.  
“Do you know him?”  
She gave a laugh that sounded almost bitter, “Yes. He’s my brother.”  
Elyan spoke,  
“Could we talk?” His eyes sidled to the various pack members watching intently, “Alone?”  
She glanced at Arthur for a second, who gave a slight nod.  
“Yes, of course.”  
▲▲▲▲  
They sat in Elyan’s sports car. Gwen was silent, not talking, and Elyan wasn’t attempting to speak either.  
“So. Pendragon, huh?”  
“Not by choice.”  
“Yes. Saw that. Nasty bit of business, wasn’t it?”  
Silence.  
He spoke, “But I suppose Morgause is a tad bit nastier.”  
“They’re both nasty, and one doesn’t automatically become vanilla when you compare them.”  
“So you did get through law school then.”  
“Finished in the 90th percentile.”  
“That’s my sister.”  
“Only in blood.”  
“Not in experience?”  
“I haven’t seen you since Dad’s funeral, and before that, Mom’s.”  
“Only a phone call away.”  
“I did call you, jackass.” Suddenly she smelled of sadness, “You didn’t answer.”  
It would have been easier if she’d been angry. But she wasn’t angry. She didn’t try to punch him, kick him. She just turned to him, eyes filled with tears, “It’s good to see you.”  
Elyan didn’t try to apologize, because vacant promises were useless. They didn’t mean anything.  
“It’s good to see you too, little sister.”  
“Last I heard, you made it in the arena.”  
“Still there.”  
“Not right now.”  
“No.”  
“Why are you here?”  
“I’m attempting make amends.”  
“With me?”  
“Who else?”  
“How do you plan to ‘make amends’?”  
“You have a tournament scheduled with Morgause on Tuesday.”  
“Word travels.”  
“It was on the news. Well, if you take a step back and take a look at your odds..well. It isn’t great.”  
“Twelve finely trained Alphas, against what, nine? Ten?”  
“You're telling me stuff I already know.”  
“Okay. I thought I might be able to help a little bit.”  
“Join us to fight Morgause?”  
“Yes.”  
“You’d have to join the pack.”  
“I know.”  
“And you’re willing to do that?”  
“Yes.”  
“You’ve never liked to be tied down.”  
“No.”  
“And do you think you’ll be his packmember forever?”  
“Hopefully he’ll release me if we win.”  
“And you’re willing to bet on that?”  
“No, I have no great love for Arthur especially from what I’ve seen so far, but I’m willing to bet on you.”  
“He’s not the worst. He told us he’d release our pack if we won.”  
“Did he?”  
“Yes.”  
“And you believe him?”  
“Yes.”  
“Then I suppose we’d better get Arthur.”  
▲▲▲▲  
“You want to help us?”  
I want to help Gwen. “Yes. But on one condition.” He shouldn’t be making demands. He would help Gwen either way, even if Arthur was the worst Alpha in the world, he’d still join. He’d given up on Gwen too much in the past to give up now. “I want to be released if we win.”  
Arthur nodded, “Done.” Elyan was surprised for a moment on how easy it was. A lot of Alphas were more possesive than that.  
“Alright then. Let’s get this over with.”  
Elyan turned his head to the side, shoving his revulsion down. For Gwen.  
Mercifully, it was short.  
Arthur’s teeth sank into his neck, and Elyan kept his eyes wide open.  
When he looked up toward Gwen, he realized they were pack again.  
Arthur was staring at him, “Why don’t you come inside. We’re done training for today, but we’re going to have dinner in a couple hours so I can introduce you. We’ve got a spare bedroom.”  
▲▲▲▲  
Gwen let Arthur lead Elyan to the spare bedroom. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her brother. It was just that she was a tad bit numb right now. She headed for the kitchen. Tea would be nice.  
“So..am I allowed to ask questions?” Morgana had already put the pot on to boil. “Because like, I totally get if you don’t want to talk about it and everything, and you’ve never mentioned-”  
“Yes. You can ask questions.”  
“Are you sure? I’ve known you for what, four days? Five?”  
“Yes, but we’ve been fucking for about half of that, so I think I owe you this.”  
“Nah, you don’t owe me anything. But I am slightly curious.”  
“You caught the fact we’re siblings?”  
“Hard to miss.”  
“Elyans a few years older than me. When I was fourteen, he was eighteen. The gap was wide enough that we weren’t always fighting. It was more indifferent, sometimes loving, mostly hating…well basically, it was any sibling relationship. Things changed a bit when Mum died.”  
“Right.” Morgana got out two mugs. “Car accident.”  
“Drunk driver. Never have been fond of alcohol to this day.”  
“And that's why you are always our designated driver.”  
She smiled at her. It was welcome that she didn’t tiptoe over the subject. Gwen hadn’t talked much about it before, mostly because it wasn’t necessary for other people to know who she was.  
Merlin walked into the kitchen, “We just got a new packmember.”  
“Yes.”  
“Are you okay?”  
“I’m…” She couldn’t put her finger on what she was feeling. “I’m confused.”  
“Understandably.”  
“Tea, Merlin?” Morgana held up a mug.  
“Please.”  
Gwen continued, “After my mom died, well. It was his senior year in high school, and he only had a few more months to go. He’d never done well in school. But fighting? Captain of the team. But after mum died, he spiraled out of control. Began to party all the time. Slept around a lot. His fights with dad were continuing and vicious. Eventually, dad just let him go. Elyan had wanted to go for a while, but dad wouldn’t let him. But then one day, Dad just broke. He didn’t want to keep fighting the same battles, dealing with the shit that Elyan pulled. So he let him go and Elyan moved out. He didn’t graduate. And I didn’t hear much from him for a very long time.”  
“And then you graduated from high school and got accepted into the one of the best colleges in the nation.” Merlin almost sounded...proud.  
“I heard from Elyan again also. Not from him directly. But he’d become famous in the arena. Saw his face emblazoned across a tabloid.”  
Morgana nodded, “I thought he looked familiar. Good for him though. That’s difficult to do as an Omega.”  
“Our father died in the middle of my sophomore year. Heart attack. Elyan came to the funeral. It was a shock, to see him after so long. He’d changed, become rough around the edges. I couldn’t bear to look at him all through the funeral. When it was over, he came over to me. What he said, I don’t remember. He couldn’t have said anything that would make me forgive him. I slapped him, pushed him away. Said a boatload of ugly words with the intention of hurting him. I wanted to hurt him as much as he’d hurt me. I was angry, you see. I was mourning my father, and my pack and I blamed him for a lot of him. A lot of what, I couldn’t say. But I blamed him. And I never saw him since.”  
Morgana handed her a warm cup and Gwen accepted it gratefully. It was good, to get it all out. She didn’t feel the same fury she had at her father’s funeral, nor the same aching sadness when she’d seen Elyan’s face today. She was empty.  
▲▲▲▲  
Arthur’s house was beautiful. Elyan had been impressed when he’d seen the outside. His room wasn’t horrible either. It’s walls were painted a bluish silver. It was much better than his apartment.  
He set his backpack down on the bed and wandered downstairs to find Gwen.  
He found her sitting at the table deep in conversation with.. The one with dark hair, the ex-alpha.  
The guy looked up, “Hello. My name’s Merlin.”  
“Elyan.”  
“I know.”  
Merlin gave him a measuring stare. Elyan folded his hands over his chest and raised an eyebrow toward Gwen, “Are you telling him about me?”  
She sighed, “He’s known for a while now.”  
Elyan didn’t like when people knew too much about him, “A while?”  
“I know Merlin more than I know you.”  
Elyan opened his mouth to disagree, and then closed it. She was probably right.  
Merlin spoke, “You’re rated the most influential fighter of the era by Time Magazine.”  
“I know.”  
“Your little sister has missed you.”  
Elyan blinked, “Are you..judging me?”  
A dark haired Alpha came down the stairs, “Oh. Hello”  
“Hello.” Elyan didn’t take his eyes off of Merlin.  
“My name’s Morgana. It’s good to have you on our side.”  
“Thank you. It’s good to be here.”  
She turned to Gwen, “Ready?”  
Gwen glanced between Merlin and Elyan, “Yes. We’ll leave these two to tough it out. Do try not to kill yourselves.”  
Elyan looked toward her, “Where are you going?”  
Gwen looked over her shoulder, “Shopping. I need some better athletic wear if everything I own is stained with blood and mud.”  
And then they walked out, together, closing the door behind them.  
Elyan met Merlin’s eye for a second, and went upstairs.  
▲▲▲▲  
Arthur was making dinner today. Pulled pork couldn’t be too bad, could it? He made a boatload of asparagus too.  
“Guys, dinner.” He put just a little Alpha into his voice. Not enough to notice, but enough to provide a bit of sway.  
He got his own plate and sat down.  
“Heyyy, Alpha can cook.” That was Elyan.  
Arthur smirked.  
“Holy shit.” Mordred was looking at Elyan like his eyes were gonna fall out of his head.  
Elyan looked around, “Yes…?”  
“You’re Elyan Smith. Like, the Elyan Smith.”  
“That’s me.”  
“My friend, like, worships you.”  
“Worships me? He must have a minimum of three altars before I truly become a God.”  
Mordred pulled out his phone, “Can we like...take a selfie?”  
“Sure.”  
Dinner was..well it was okay. Arthur could hear his father’s voice in the back of his head, ‘No pack can truly run smooth until no one has a problem with each other.’  
And as Gwen wouldn’t talk to Elyan, well. What was worse is that Gwen had allies. Gwaine, Freya, Merlin, even Morgana. It wasn’t as if they went out of their way to snub him. But they weren’t welcoming. Watching how the dynamics played out, Arthur believed he may have made a mistake inviting Elyan in the pack.  
But they needed him.  
The best fighter of the era.  
Arthur didn’t dare choose a side. Being overly welcoming with Elyan would turn Gwen against him. And he wasn’t so naive to being an Alpha as to side with alienating a packmember.  
He had to get Gwen to reconcile with Elyan. But how to do that?  
He watched Merlin and Elyan glare at each other and sighed. How to do that, indeed.  
▲▲▲▲  
Merlin snuck out again that night. Mordred only knew because he listened for it.  
He went out the window this time. And that told Mordred something.  
It told him that this was a planned adventure, because all the windows in Arthur’s house were old enough that opening them was difficult. Merlin must have bought some WD-40. And it told him that it was a secret. Why not just go out the front door? What was Merlin trying to hide?  
Merlin left the window open, so he must be returning sometime later.  
For a second, Mordred wanted to follow him. But whatever Merlin did, it was his own business. And, Mordred was in the middle of watching a tv show.  
His phone buzzed.  
Kay had replied. Mordred smiled and picked his phone up. He reminded himself not to enjoy himself too much. Because dark times were coming. And when they came, Mordred was going to be prepared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Chapters are coming slower, I know, but I'm trying to fit every day into one chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We are some fucked up siblings.”

“You put Merlin and Elyan together?” Morgana was looking at the list of chorus Arthur had assigned.  
“I figured if they got to know each other, they might be able to get along.”  
“They’re the ones who will create the tension, best to keep them far apart as possible.”  
“It would be best to confront the tension, work it out. Merlin is forgiving enough, and I’m trusting Elyan to have a good side, Gwen does.”  
“Merlin? Forgiving?”  
“He forgave me.”  
“No, he hasn’t.”  
Arthur gritted his teeth.  
His sister continued, “And Elyan? He’s quite far away from Gwen, wouldn’t you say? And even if they were the same person, Gwen’s good side..well.”  
Arthur gave a humorless laugh, “I forgot how well you get under my skin, sweet sister.”  
“Don’t put Elyan and Merlin together.”  
“It’s my pack, not yours.”  
αβω  
“Of all the people I could have been scrubbing the kitchen with, Arthur chose to pair me with you?”  
Elyan glared at him, “Let’s just work in uncomfortable silence, I don’t need to hear your voice berating me for not taking care of someone who doesn’t need to be taken care of.”  
“You couldn’t even be bothered to give an explanation.”  
“For what? Why I left? I could be wrong, but it might not be any of your business.”  
αβω  
Morgana walked up to Arthur as he was scrubbing the bathtub, “Guess who's arguing?”  
“I know, I’m listening to it. I must remember some of these replies when we’re fighting, they’re great.”  
“Aren't you going to do something about it?”  
“They’ll get over it. They’ll argue, realize they’re argument is legitimately futile, and be bros.”  
Morgana gave him a long look. And then they listened intently.  
αβω  
“You had to arrive now? You’re trying to ‘protect’ her now? You didn’t even help her pay for college, and I know you've made a fortune in the fighting pits.”  
“She wouldn’t accept my help! She didn’t want me, so I stayed out of her way. Maybe you should learn when to stay out of a person’s way.”  
“Was that a threat?”  
αβω  
Morgana sidled a gaze at Arthur, “Are you positive we shouldn’t go down there to separate them?”  
Arthur just grit his teeth.  
She sighed, “Fine. But if they rip each other to shreds, don’t blame it on me.”  
αβω  
“All you’ve done is abandon her!”  
“But I didn’t lead her into danger.”  
“And how have I done that?”  
“That business with Pendragon? You idiot! I might have left her alone, but she trusted you enough as an Alpha to be a part of a pack again, and you, what, get in a pissing contest with another Alpha. And lose?”  
“Because, unlike you, I actually fight my problems, instead of running away from them.”  
Elyan growled at him.  
Merlin smirked, “You are too quick to decide you want to fight.”  
“People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw rocks.”  
Merlin gave a bitter laugh, “You can throw witty sayings you didn’t invent at me all day long.”  
“Why are you fighting with me? It’s not up to you to decide how Gwen feels. Are those leftover Alpha hormones messing with your head?”  
Merlin punched him.  
αβω  
“Yea, he’s forgiven you alright.”  
Arthur winced, “I suppose I should break them up.”  
It sounded as if they were wrestling on the floor now.  
Morgana had her ears tilted, “No. Wait a second.”  
“What?”  
“A new player has entered the arena.”  
Arthur listened.  
αβω  
“What in the world?”  
“Gwen?”  
“Merlin? Elyan? Get off of each other! I swear to God! You are the most childish adults I’ve ever met, and I was a divorce lawyer for three years!”  
They stood there in sullen silence.  
“What are you even fighting about?”  
More silence.  
“You two are useless. Absolutely useless.”  
αβω  
Elyan watched her walk out and met Merlin’s gaze.  
And then they continued cleaning.  
αβω  
Arthur ran his fingers through his hair, “It's like walking on eggshells.”  
Morgana was staring at him through the corners of her eyes.  
“What?”  
“You planned that.”  
Arthur didn’t say anything.  
“That was shrewd.”  
Arthur went back to organized the cabinet, “Well, I learn from the best.”  
She smirked.  
αβω  
An hour later the kitchen was sparklingly clean.   
Merlin put his hand up in a high five and Elyan looked at it for a second, before slapping it.  
“Apologies. For,” Merlin gave a hand gesture, “That.”  
“I’m sorry too.” _But I could still kick your ass. _  
αβω  
Mordred checked his e-mail. Damn. They said the letters would be sent out today.  
The day was half over, for god’s sake. He’d cleaned the living room spotless, eaten lunch. They said today.   
Holy shit, what if he’d gotten rejected. Then all he’d be waiting for was a disappointment. Another one.  
It would be okay if he got rejected. There were other colleges.  
He shouldn’t have any hope. It was a cruel thing to have after so long. But, infuriatingly, it was still there. Still alive, still shining brightly even though Mordred had done his very best to stomp it out.  
He did his very best to shove it to the corner of his mind. There was no reason for Mary and William to have accepted him. 41.3 percent acceptance rate.  
He refreshed the page. Nothing. He hadn’t told anyone he’d applying Early Decision. It’d be too disgusting to see the look of pity on a person’s face if they asked and he’d have to tell them that, “No, sorry. Didn’t get in. I see now that has made the conversation awkward, but no, it’s quite alright. I’m quite good at taking rejection.”  
Mordred rolled over onto his stomach and laid his face on his arms. It had been the only school he’d applied to.  
“Ugh.” He groaned into his pillow. Maybe he’d just quit school altogether and become a mountain man.  
His computer dinged.  
Mordred looked up.  
One new message.  
Mary and William.  
Entitled ‘Application.’  
Mordred twisted around and grabbed his computer.  
With every intention he brought his hand to the pad with the intention of clicking down.  
And then he stopped. His finger hovered over the pad. There was every chance in the world they turned him down.  
He pushed away his hope some more. Prepare for the worst.  
And he clicked down.  
“Dear Mordred,  
Good things!”  
His eyes raced through the e-mail, “Reviewed your application...pleased to see you were a good fit...part of the Mary and William Community.”  
He..did it.   
He sat there, absolutely stunned for a moment. Just staring at the screen.  
And then he picked up his computer. And, just because he could, he jumped on his bed.  
Lovely mattress, bouncy. Good for jumping. Mordred gave a whoop.  
He heard a knock on his door, he smelled Merlin, “Come in!”  
Merlin looked at him, confused. “Why are you bouncing on the bed?”  
“I got accepted into Mary and William!”  
Instantly, Merlin’s confusion turned to excitement, “Really, Mordred? That’s amazing?”  
Merlin lept on the bed, and began crazily jumping around.  
“Mary and William!” Mordred shouted at him.  
Merlin’s eyes were alight with laughter, “Mary and William!”  
And then they were off, jumping on the bed crazily-and narrowly missing falling off once or twice-and shouting Mary and William at the top of their lungs.  
They finally tired and flopped down on the bed.  
“The only problem now,” Mordred said, “Is paying for it.”  
Arthur knocked on the door, “Mary and William?”  
Mordred snorted, “Come in.”  
Merlin turned over on his back, “Mordred got accepted into Mary and William.”  
Arthur beamed, “That’s amazing!”  
“Yes,” Merlin said, “And now that he’s gotten past one problem, he’s already worried about the next.”  
“Oh?”  
Mordred groaned, “Paying for it.”  
Arthur scoffed, “Oh, that won’t be a problem.”  
Mordred stared at him.  
“You’re pack. You don’t think I’d let you flounder in debt when we are completely financially stable, did you?”  
Mordred felt the slight blooming of something soft in his chest and tears welled up behind his eyes.  
He blinked them back. Picking up a pillow, he threw it at Arthur.  
“Come over here. You look awkward standing there.”  
αβω  
“Alright guys. Elyan, Merlin, Freya, Lance and Mordred are going to be with me. The rest of you are with Morgana.”  
Arthur walked to his side. Morgana grabbed his arm, “You put Elyan and Gwen on different sides, was that wise?”  
“Probably not.”  
“You're experimenting with people to see what happens.”  
“You cannot judge me, I've seen you do the same. I need a well-functioning group by Tuesday morning, and if there is one aspect of our pack that isn’t airtight, our chances plummet. Everyone needs to be at peace with each other, and this is the only way I know how to do this.”  
She stared at him. And then she smiled, “You’re learning.” She turned and ran to meet her team.  
Arthur stared after her. Learning? He shook his head and went to his team.   
“Alright guys, ready? Do try not to kill anyone, they are still pack after all.”  
He raised his voice, “One.”  
“Two.”  
“Three.”  
It was not supposed to be done that way. It was traditionally a gunshot, or a signal both parties had agreed on. Arthur would discuss that tomorrow with Morgause. He wasn’t looking forward to it.  
But he didn’t dwell on it at the moment because her sister was coming at him with her claws out.  
αβω  
Morgana hit him on bottom ribs and it sent Arthur sprawling into the dirt.  
He staggered up, “Always loved fighting you.”  
She slapped him, claws retracted, but enough force that it almost sent him back into the ground.  
Morgana was being indulgent today. She could have used her claws.  
She aimed to slap him on the other side of his head, but he ducked and shoved her backward.  
Looking around, he did a quick survey. Lance, Gwaine, and Leon were dead.   
Oh. Percy without Gwaine was attempting to fight Elyan. He’d be dead soon too.  
Morgana jumped to her feet and Arthur threw a punch at her neck. She blocked. He aimed for her legs. Bringing someone down was a surefire way to end someone. She blocked. And slapped him in the head. Claws out. He stumbled backward. Blood dripped into his eye. Percy was dead now. Gwen and Elyan were fighting. It wasn’t vanilla either.   
Elyan looked as if he was trying not to kill her. Gwen didn’t.  
Arthur wiped blood out of his eye.  
They circled. Morgana gave a nod to where Elyan and Gwen were fighting, “Are they going to be okay?”  
“Probably not.” Arthur attacked.  
They met in a swirl of willpower and at the end Arthur though Morgana might have borne the brunt of the damage.  
Percy, Freya, Mordred, and Merlin were dead now.  
“Are you sure they’re okay?”  
He spared a glance. Gwen had Elyan in a chokehold.   
Morgana attacked and Arthur was reminded of that crucial lesson.  
"Don’t take your eyes of the opponent."  
Arthur was pretty sure he was in a worse state by the end of that one.  
“Can I admit defeat so I can deal with those two over there?”  
Morgana nodded.  
Arthur walked over to them and dragged them apart from each other, “I said fight not kill each other.” He said though gritted teeth.  
He dragged them, passing by the faces of those in the designated 'dead' area, “Morgana’s in charge.”  
αβω  
He pulled two chairs into the middle of the living room and put Elyan in one and Gwen in the other. They sat facing each other.  
“Alright. You are going to sit here, and talk this out. And I will be in the kitchen making tea or something otherwise unimportant. Work it out.”  
αβω  
Gwen faced her brother. He was bleeding quite profusely. She may have been slightly smug about that.  
They glared at each other, and she squinted her eyes. She wasn’t the one who would speak first.  
Although apparently neither was he. They sat in sullen silence.  
Finally, Elyan opened his mouth, “You called it childish when Merlin and I fought.”  
“Yea, well. You infuriate me.”  
“Believe me, I know.”  
Gwen tilted her head, “Why did you come back?”  
“You were in trouble.”  
“You’ve never cared before.”  
“Oh, I have. I’ve cared too much.”  
“So that’s why I haven’t seen you in years.”  
She noticed Elyan grit his teeth and felt a pang of triumph, “Have I offended you, brother?”  
He glared, “You say brother as if it were an insult.”  
“It hasn’t denoted anything good in my life.”  
He lost his glare and sighed, “You asked why I came back.”  
“And you replied that I was in trouble. I’ve been in trouble before, but there was no sign of you.”  
“Not in mortal danger.”  
“There's different forms of trouble.”  
“I tried to help.”  
“Bitch, when?”  
“The last time I’d seen you. You yelled at me, spit at me. I’ve never seen so much hate in one being. Still today, I can see your rage etched on your face.”  
“I hadn’t seen you in years, my anger was completely rational.”  
“I did my best to offer you help, and you turned it away.”  
“Don’t throw that at me. I was in mourning, asshole. It was the middle of sophomore year when I got a call from the Brightspot Hospital saying my father had suffered a heart attack. I put all my classes on hold to take the train to visit him. I sat by his bedside when the heart monitors stopped working. Where the fuck were you? Winning more competitions? Not a word from you. The last of my pack was dead. I felt so goddamn alone.”  
She took a breath. Emotions were not the right way to win an argument, and this was completely spinning of the tracks. She could normally push away her emotions. But this was too personal. All that packed up resentment was bubbling to the surface.   
“And then you sashay into dad’s funeral. Do you know how much of a shock it was to see you? Watching you walk in those doors and take a seat? I had to sit through that entire ceremony with a straight back and chin in the air.”  
She felt a prickling behind her eyes. Ah, well. She knew it would come up someday. Still, she forced them down.  
“So when you came to me afterwards, I’m sorry I wasn’t falling over my feet to accept your help. But no, you don’t get to throw the ‘I tried to help you but you’re a bitch’ card at me.”  
Elyan raised his head, “I’m not trying to blame you for my mistakes. None of my problems are yours. But this is my apology. I’m so fucking sorry I left you alone for so many years. But you weren’t the only one affected my mom’s death. Do you know where she was driving when she got hit? She was driving to pick me up from practice. Because I was too goddamn lazy to get my driver’s permit. It’s my fault she died and I knew it.”  
He looked at Gwen, as if waiting for an objection. She pursed her lips.  
“That guilt weighed down on me. My fault. My fault you cried yourself to sleep at night everyday for a month. My fault dad became an alcoholic and almost lost his job at the garage. My fault. I was seventeen! So I ran away. Fast as my feet would carry me and did the best I could as a lone Omega. It’s an excuse, and a poor one at that. But this is me coming back. I’m trying to help you, in any way I can. You never needed my help before, so I let things lie. But now, your Alpha is an Omega, and your pack stands in peril. Before I was content to let you live your life out, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let you die.”  
He finished his speech.   
She stared at him, “We are some fucked up siblings.”  
He groaned, “I know.”  
“I have one question for you.”  
“Yes?”  
“I won a full ride scholarship to get me through law school.”  
“Yes.”  
“It came from the, and I quote, “Bellicose Univision Community Scholarship.”  
Elyan was hiding a smile in his eyes.  
“I did some research on that particular institution and found mostly a lot of dead ends. But I did find that the scholarship inexplicably went from a thousand to full ride the year I won it. You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, now would you?”  
This time Elyan smiled, full and wide stretching across his face, “I really thought I’d tricked you.”  
Gwen laughed, “You couldn’t hope to.”  
“Worth a try.”  
They fell silent for a moment.  
“It wasn’t your fault, ya know. That mom died.” Gwen said.  
“I know. And it wasn’t your fault that dad died.”  
“Yea. Should have been watching his diet better though. He always did like those Double Big Macs.”  
“Remember that time he took us to MacDonald and Mom found out and flayed him?”  
Gwen laughed, “Oh my god, I forgot about that! She was always so obsessed with being healthy.”  
“She would make me drink these chia drinks-”  
“I remember those! They had the consistency of snot.”  
“I know! And like it sounds absurd but I actually began to like them!”   
They dissolved into a fit of giggles.  
Arthur came in the room and set down two mugs of tea, “Are we okay?”  
Gwen looked at her Omega brother, “I think we’ll be just fine.”__


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything's better with DRAGONS

Gwaine was attempting to steal some spaghetti from the drainer, Freya saw from the corner of her eye as she was stirring the tomato sauce. She smacked his hand away with the handle on her spoon.   
The red sauce still managed to splatter everywhere.  
“Ow! Shit! Did you not remember you were stirring boiling tomato sauce?” Gwaine yelped as he drew his hand away and put on a mournful expression.  
“No. I remembered.” That was a blatant lie.   
“You almost burned me!”  
“Go get Arthur to put a bandaid on it.”  
“You know Merlin’s the one who's always got the bandages.”  
 _Not anymore. ___  
Gwaine got bottle of tequila from the alcohol drawer.  
“Jesus, you’re a fucking alcoholic. Go get everyone and tell them dinner's ready.”  
He sulked and put the tequila away.   
Freya grabbed some paper towels and wiped up the sauce. She wished she hadn’t hit him so hard. Lord knows he’d already gotten enough of that.  
Elyan and Gwen were on good terms. That was surprising. Gwen had held a grudge against her brother for a very long time. Longer than Freya had known her. She didn’t know what exactly went down after they’d been dragged away. But Arthur definitely knew what he was doing as an Alpha. It couldn’t hurt that Gwen was fucking his sister...  
The pack began filing downstairs for dinner. Everyone got a plate of food and sat down and talked to their neighbor. No one despised each other, and even Merlin and Elyan seemed to get along despite their scuffle this morning. Which, she guessed, was because Gwen had given him the okay.  
Arthur clinked his spoon against his glass, effectively bringing everyone at the table to silence.  
“Mordred got accepted into M&W today.”  
Congratulations swept around the table and everyone began to clap.  
Mordred sunk into his chair, face as red as a cherry.  
“Awe, we’re embarrassing him.” Morgana said.  
“We should drink to celebrate!” Gwaine interjected. Freya rolled her eyes.  
“We’re not giving alcohol to a seventeen year old.” Arthur said flatly.  
“If we’re going to drink, it would be better to to do it tonight, rather than tomorrow.” Morgana pointed out.  
Freya could see the contained frustration within Arthur’s eyes, because he couldn’t mostly control everyone else in the pack, but he couldn’t outmaneuver Morgana.  
Gwaine nodded, “We should watch a movie.”  
“Are you proposing a drinking game?” Arthur had given in to unhappy resignation.  
“Perhaps.”  
Morgana pointed her fork at Gwaine, “I bet I could drink you under the table.”  
“Could not!”  
“I suppose we’ll find out.”  
Arthur looked between them and groaned, “This was a bad idea.”  
αβω  
It was either a very bad idea or a very hilarious one.  
It was Lord of the Rings. Drink every time a hobbit references food, there's a close up of the ring, Legolas looks into the difference ect.  
“Okay, that’s enough for you.” Arthur whisked the bottle away from Gwaine’s grasping hands.  
“Wait…”  
“Haha! Sucker!” Morgana laughed. Arthur took hers away as well.  
“Heyyy..”  
“You want mine?” Lance offered up his drink.  
“Seeing as how you know how to drink responsibly, I don’t think it will be a problem.”  
Leon had fallen asleep in the corner.  
“Hey!” Morgana was slurring her words. “I know how to drink responsibly. This is the drunkest I’ve ever been since I got a pack.”  
“Most drunk.” Arthur said.  
Merlin took a sip of his drink without taking his eyes of the screen, “Drunkest.”  
“Drunk, more drunk, most drunk.”  
“Drunk, drunker, drunkest.”  
“No.”  
“Yes. Drunker is a comparative adjective, drunkest is a superlative adjective. If the adjective were to have three syllables or more, then you would then use 'more', and 'most'.”  
“How in the world do you know this?”  
“I got drunk and looked it up.”  
“That’s fair.”  
He turned to put the bottles away and Mordred tapped him on the leg, “Can I have some?”  
“No!” The utterance came from two sets of lips.  
Arthur started and looked at Merlin.  
“Why not?” Mordred whined.  
“Because, obviously…” Theoretically it would be better for Mordred to drink in the company of pack, instead of on his own at a party.  
Merlin spoke, “Because not only is it illegal, your brain is still developing and will continue to develop until your early twenties. Drinking during this time may damage your brain.”  
“I’ve been dragged around to three different packs, lost my mate, and almost got murdered by Morgause, I think I can handle a few sips of alcohol.”  
Arthur spoke, “Don’t you dare pull the pity party. Starting to drink alcohol when you are a teen puts you at higher risk for being addicted to alcohol at some point in your life, and you’re not starting now.”  
“Fine. I’ll just go to a party and get wasted.”  
Merlin snorted, “What parties? Maybe we’ll have an alcohol get together before you go to college. But for now, tomorrow is Monday, and you have to wake up early tomorrow.”  
Mordred sulked.  
αβω  
Merlin hadn’t left yet, but the night was still young.   
Mordred could be patient. He was writing the Government essay that could have been written at a much better time than 10 o'clock on a Monday. It was something about the preservation of the two party system. It would be much easier to write if he understood any of it.  
An hour later, Mordred had half a paper that was marginally literate, and Merlin still hadn’t gone anywhere.  
Mordred was beginning to doubt that he would leave at all. He sighed and packed his backpack. The rest of the paper could wait. It wasn’t as if his teacher actually put any effort in grading the thing anyway.  
A window opened.  
Mordred froze.  
Someone maneuvered themselves out and landed lightly on the ground.  
Mordred grabbed his shoes and followed.  
αβω  
Mordred tread lightly though the forest. It was a beautiful night, cool and crisp. The moon shown surprisingly brightly given that it wouldn’t be full for a couple more weeks.   
They walked for ten minutes, Merlin as if he knew the path by heart, and Mordred trailing behind him, as close as he dared to go without being heard.  
They came to a stop in a clearing with a scattering of rocks and boulders, which Mordred thought was a bit anticlimactic. It wasn’t even a very big clearing.   
Mordred hid behind a tree and watched as Merlin knelt and pulled some shrubbery from the ground, revealing an opening. He descended.  
What in the world was he doing?  
Mordred cautiously walked over to the hole. There was a crude set of stairs that led downward into the dark. Merlin was speaking. Mordred tilted his head and listened.  
“-difficult. It’s as if I’m taking down a brick wall with my bare hands. Scraping away so just a little more can come though.”  
“Very good. When that wall is gone you will have full potential of your powers.”  
“Well, at the rate it’s going, it will be many months.”  
“That is actually a short amount of time, believe it or not.”  
“Not for the time constraints that I need.”  
Who in the world was he talking to? Mordred didn’t recognize the voice. He crept down the stairs, every muscle on alert.  
He reached the bottom more quickly than he expected, but even then he doesn’t see anything.   
It’s dark. The only light shafts in from an unseen crack up above.  
When his eyes adjust, he realizes that what is in front of him is a cavern, as wide and vast as anything he’d ever seen. There is no end, nor bottom in sight.  
Mordred stifles a gasp and presses himself against the wall.  
He can’t see Merlin, nor the person he’s talking too. They’re around the bend.   
Despite the adrenaline shot that just coursed through him, his curiosity won out. Mordred crept over as slow as he could manage. Every sound magnified a hundredfold.  
“Have you been practicing during fights?”  
“I don’t have the focus enough. When you fight you focus on two things, your opponent, and your body. I don’t have time to concentrate on my core.”  
“It’s not instinctual yet?”  
Mordred peaked around the bend. And then he did a lot of blinking.  
One for his eye to adjust.   
Two to see what was in front of him.  
Three to double check.  
And four as he stumbled backward and hit his head on a rock.  
Merlin turned around, “Hello?”  
The dragon chuckled, “We have a visitor.”  
“Who’s there?”  
For a moment, Mordred thought to run. But this was Merlin, he couldn’t do--wouldn’t do--anything to hurt him? He rubbed his head and stepped out of the shadows, “Umm..hello?”  
Merlin blinked, “How in the world did you follow me? I didn’t suspect a thing.”  
Mordred was still pressed against the wall, every instinct prepared to turn and run the way he’d come, “Is that thing going to eat me?  
The dragon did a squinty thing with his eyes, “You are not who I thought it would be.”  
“And who did you think it would be?”  
“Not you.”  
Merlin laughed, “Stop glaring at him. And no. He’ll not eat you. Most likely.”  
The dragon hungrily said, “Young Mordred, I see.”  
“How does-how does he know my name?”  
Merlin gestured vaguely, “Some sort of magic or something. It’s not clarified.”  
“Holy shit.”  
Merlin gave him a look, “Language.”  
Mordred rolled his eyes, “Holy crap.”  
“I see you are both getting along splendidly.”  
Mordred couldn’t drag his eyes away from the beast in front of him, “I thought dragons went extinct many years ago.”  
The dragon was surveying him, “Endangered.”  
Mordred turned to Merlin, “How in the world did you have a dragon hidden away? No one suspects a thing! Wait, does everyone know about this and I don’t?”  
“No. No one knows. Well, now you know.”  
“How long have you been hiding this?”  
He turned to Mordred, “Only a few days.”  
“A few days? Why in the world haven’t you told Arthur? This is great! With a dragon on our side, it’ll be easy-”  
“Not so fast, young Mordred.” The dragon growled, “Since when has your life ever been that simple?”  
He shut his mouth with an audible clack.  
Merlin looked apologetic, “Sorry, he’s kinda rude.”  
“And I’m chained to the ground.”  
“Which is why I haven’t told anyone yet. A dragon isn’t that good when it’s hidden underground.”  
“Is there any way to unchain him?”  
“No. There was a prophecy, but it hasn’t come to anything yet.” The dragon said.  
“Prophecy?”  
Merlin sighed, “Yea. Something about an Omega being able to unchain him or some bullcocky stuff like that but it’s kinda sketchy..”  
The dragon blew air through its nose, “Yes. Unfortunately there were no specifics to when, or where, so I may be chained up for another millennial. Perhaps I am confusing my timelines.”  
Merlin’s head whipped toward him, “Timelines?”  
“Yes, timelines. You think this is the only one?”  
“Well..yes.”  
“Oh, it isn’t. Far from it. There are distinct ones, blurry ones. It’s all very confusing.”  
“Tell me all about it.”  
It the dragon was a person, it would have rolled it’s eyes, “It’s exactly what the name implies. There are different worlds out there involving you, and Mordred as well.”  
“I’m not asking for the basics, I’m asking for details. There are different timelines. You can’t just say that and expect no response.”  
“You don’t let go of stuff, do you? Listen, I’m not the right being to ask.”  
Mordred was confused, “You’re a dragon. The most magic of the magic. If you don’t know, then no one probably does.”  
Kilgharrah fluffed up, “Well, you are partially correct. But even if I tell you what I know, you’d have more confusion than answers.”  
Merlin was looking annoyed, “So you won’t tell us anything?”  
“I will tell you this. Universes are a tricky thing. While some of them are completely different than what we’re perceiving now, others branch off and diverge into a different ending. Humans can’t detect any other universes at all, and even I can barely sense them. At the very best of times, I can see some of the endings. What might have been, what should have happened. But somethings don’t change. Through all the twists and turns and dusty passages, Merlin and Arthur always meet. Admittedly, their meetings aren't always so crude as this timeline’s, but they do meet and that's all that fate needed to happen.”  
Mordred spoke, “Can you see anything about me?”  
“Your timelines are very diverse indeed. Of all the universes you play a very different role. Sometimes you’re sympathetic, in some you’re a murderer.”  
“A sympathetic murderer.” Mordred sighed, “Great.”  
“In other timelines, your packs house doesn’t burn to the ground, and Kara never dies. One time you betray Arthur’s pack and end up killing Merlin. You’ve even thought of that in this timeline, haven’t you? But in this timelines, you never do, so you needn't look so worried.”  
“Can you foresee what’s going to happen with Morgause?”  
Mordred had missed it, but Merlin saw a distinctly dark look passing over Kilgharrah’s face. But when he blinked in surprise, it had disappeared.   
“Oh, Mordred. You overestimate my power. It’s flattering, actually.”  
THe dragon shook his head, “But enough about twisted fate and alternate universes. Merlin, you need to practice against an opponent and I do believe an eligible one has made an appearance.”  
“But I have more questions.”  
“Stuff your questions. Everyone has more questions when it comes to the vague subject of fate and I, the most magical creature of the universe, have nothing more to say about it.”  
Merlin rolled his eyes, “I see your ego has remained intact.”  
“A few centuries down here and no one to tear down my self esteem? My ego grew dramatically. But back on the topic of magic, I do believe you owe young Mordred an explanation.”  
“He’s right. I mean, there's a dragon sitting right in front of me, and I don’t even know how you even met him.”  
“Well, basically I have magic. Pretty strongly according Kilgharrah. He used my magic as a beacon to meet me. Mostly because he was bored and needed someone to talk to.”  
“Magic..”  
“You sound unconvinced. But there’s a dragon right in front of you, you can’t possibly draw the lines at magic.”  
“It’s just so fairytaleish. I’d believe you if you would show me some.”  
Merlin shrugged and lifted his hand.  
For a second Mordred saw his eyes glowing. And then right in front of Mordred’s mostly sane eyes, a rock rose.  
Mordred began to laugh.   
The dragon and Merlin looked on as Mordred went from a giggle to a full on body-wracking laugh.  
“Should I slap him?” Merlin asked.  
“I honestly have no idea.”   
Mordred stopped abruptly, “Are you sure the dragon isn’t a mirage?”  
The rock was still there. Hanging in the air.  
Merlin looked slightly worried for his sanity, and with fair reasoning, because Mordred wasn’t sure if that breakdown was hysteria resulting from stress, or actual laughter rising from the sheer absurdity of it all.   
“No joke. No prank. This is,” Merlin gestured, “Real.”  
“Un-freaking-believable.”  
“You better start believing it. Merlin needs some practice fighting using his skills and you’d be an excellent target.”  
“You want Merlin….to attack me with his newfound superpower?”  
“And his claws as well. A blend of brawn, brains, and magic can do wonderfully in a fight.”  
Merlin spoke, “If you don’t want to do it you don’t-”  
Mordred cut him off, “Let’s do it.”  
Αβω  
It was late, almost 1 in the morning, and Merlin and Mordred still had not returned. Truly, Merlin should have more sense than to keep Mordred out so late. Arthur deleted yet another email from a magazine attempting to get an interview. They’d been harassing him all week, asking for ‘interviews of his pack’, and ‘photo shoots of the house’. He’d had to chase a reporter off the lawn a couple days ago. Jesus Christ. How they even managed to get his address was unknown to him. He should look into that.  
Gwaine and Gwen had finally gone to sleep after and rowdy hour of being fairly drunk, but Morgana was walking to his room. Her hand hovered to knock.  
“It’s open.”  
She looked at his email, “They still at it?”   
“Won’t stop. What, do they think I will whore my pack out for money?”  
“Unfortunately that's exactly what they think.”  
“Their particularly keen on getting a Q&A with Merlin. Bless the fact that they’re emailing me about it instead of hounded him.”  
“Yes. God bless society’s double standards and the belief that Alphas are the only ones to be approached on matters of the Omegas.”  
“That wasn’t what I meant.”  
“Obviously.”  
“You’re acting a lot less drunk than I thought you would be at this moment-”  
“Father called.”  
Arthur stilled, “What does he want.”  
It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t said as a question. It was stated, the words flowing off his tongue with a heaviness only dread can afford.  
“He wants to talk to his only son before the Tournament.”  
“Why?”  
“Because you might die.”  
“I don’t want to talk to him.”  
“Really, Arthur. All he wants is a two minute conversation.”  
“You’re being condescending.”  
“Apologies. Comes from being better than everyone else.”  
“Besides, it's not ‘just’ a two minute conversation. Not for me it isn’t.”  
She cupped his face, “You do a lot for your pack. You pay for the groceries. Organize dinner duty. Make important decisions. Hell, you even refrained from drinking today, and I know you love drinking games. You have a functioning pack, and Gwen and Elyan now get along. That was you. You put so much effort in making things run smoothly, but you’re past is still rusty with rough emotions. And you can’t truly expect everything in your pack to be perfect if you still have flaws.”  
I’ll always have flaws.  
“Fine. I’ll call him.”  
“Good. He’ll be happy to hear from you. Don’t say anything with emotion. Don’t feel any emotion. Make smalltalk and assure him that you are fine and your pack is great. Statistics are your friend. Tell him that you will win against Morgause. If you do, you’ll have told the truth. If you lied, well. It won’t have mattered. We’ll be dead.”  
She picked up his phone and placed it into his hand.  
Arthur stared at it as she left.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deus ex machina

Arthur cracked his eyes open and sighed. One more day.  
One more day.  
One more day.  
He wasn't a morning person, but through force of habit he’d developed a sorta sleep pattern. Normally he’d be the first awake so coming downstairs and hearing someone already bustling around was….surprising. It was the little things where Arthur truly felt the difference. Like how he had to share a shower, or the sheer amount more food he had to buy.  
“Good morning Freya.”  
“Morning. Care for some tea?”  
“Nah, I was thinking more coffee.”  
“That stuff is so bad for you.”  
“Eh, whatever. There's like a seventy percent chance we’re all gonna die tomorrow.”  
Freya laughed.  
Internally Arthur wondered if it was appropriate he'd said that.  
“Anyway, I've got to run. I've got a bunch of lovely prepubescent idiots that I'm being paid to smash knowledge into their brains.”  
He looked at the clock. 6:13. “You get up early.”  
“Yes and believe it or not I'm actually running late today.”  
She smiled at him and rushed out the door.  
Arthur looked at the clock again. 6:13 blinked back at him, unchanging. He began to make breakfast. French toast.   
Slowly, his pack began to trickle down the stairs. Or - Lance bounded down and Gwaine stumbled down. Most of them were late, and he gave them a to-go plate. Some of them stayed and talked. By nine o'clock he was washing the dishes.   
“Well well well.” Morgana slinked from the shadows, “If what I’m perceiving is right, you’re saying goodbye.”  
“Saying goodbye?”  
“Because you might not be here tomorrow.”  
“Would you care to help me with the dishes instead of making snarky comments?”  
“Feisty.” She made no move to help him. “What time is she coming?”  
“10:30.”  
“What time is the lawyer gonna be here?”  
“10.”  
“Then I guess we’re all set.”  
“I guess so.”  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
Once Morgause had visited his pack for the first time, Arthur quickly got a lawyer. The Pendragon lawyer was an Alpha chinese woman by the name of Linda Hu. One of the best in her field, Arthur had seen to that. And Morgana had double checked. They had wanted to use Gwen but there was a requirement that the third party be an outsider to prevent bias.  
And she didn’t waste any time whatsoever. Within the five minutes after knocking on the door and refusing any offer of refreshment, Arthur’s entire round table was covered in documents.  
“I assume you received my email?”  
Arthur looked through his computer, “The one you sent last night?”  
“No, the one I sent a few days ago. It was about Form #4? I was thinking that perhaps we could find a loophole in there.”  
Morgana shook her head, “No, me and Gwen went through that. We’d need a cripple to be exempt.”  
“Can we create a cripple?”  
Arthur made an exclamation of disagreement.  
“Arthur, you’ve made it clear you’re willing to do anything to get out of this, I think we can give at least one of your pack a physical impediment.”  
Morgana smirked, “Even if we could, it’s required that they be hurt before the claim was first made clear.”  
“A shame.”  
And on and on and on until at exactly 11:30 Arthur’s ears picked up the noise of a car.  
Instantly his sense jumped to attention, “She’s here.”  
Linda looked at her watch, “Right on time.” She said with an underlying current of admiration, which Arthur chose to ignore.  
Morgause got out of the car, Nimueh striding next to her and a Beta hovering behind.  
Arthur met them outside. He wasn’t going to invite them inside until it was required.  
“Morgause Le Fay.” Arthur tilted his head, a common sign of greeting between Alphas.  
“Arthur Pendragon.”  
“My second, Morgana Pendragon. And our backer, Linda Hu.”  
“My second, Nimueh Pellinore. And our backer, Quinn Connolly.”  
“Fine. We’ll begin with a survey of the chosen field, and then close with peace talks.”  
“How far away is the field?”  
“You do not need the car.”  
Perhaps Arthur should have recommended the use of the car, because they had to endure a tense stroll over to the chosen field.  
Once there, they crawled over every inch of every blade of grass in that field. But Arthur knew his choice was faultless. No holes, grass trimmed accordingly. No land mines… Pendragons didn’t play dirty. Even if the land was poor, he doubted Morgause would risk delaying the match.  
“Is the field to your satisfaction?”  
“Everything seems to be in order.”  
And now Arthur had to invite them inside. Which he despised.   
This was his pack, his property, his den. It wasn’t as if Morgause had never been inside before, but Arthur’s senses wanted her out.  
“Can we offer you something to drink?”  
“No.”  
“Please sit down.”  
Quinn gave everyone a copy of the agreement document.  
So far it was only a rough sketch. The time, the date, the pack members for each team. The detail discussion began.  
"The first order of business is whether breaks are allowed, and their frequency."  
Morgause tapped her fingers on the table, "No breaks."  
Arthur opened his mouth, "I want breaks. Every thirty minutes."  
"Thirty minutes? That's ridiculous. They'll be hardly an fighting at all. No breaks."  
Linda cut in, "How about a short break, five minutes every hour?"  
Arthur opened his mouth to protest, but Morgana overlapped him, "Fine. We'll take it."  
Quinn's hands were poised over her keyboard, "Morgause?"  
She was silent.  
Quinn took it as a sign to go ahead.  
Linda looked through the papers, "Is the use of a doctor going to be permitted? Also, we need to review some of the boundaries for medical care."  
Arthur straightened, "Yes, the doctor should be permitted."  
"I disagree."  
Morgana glared at Morgause, "Of course you do."  
Morgause came very close to barring her teeth, "No doctor. This isn't a child's game, Pendragon. We all know that some in our pack are going to have to die."  
"I want a doctor, you don’t have to use one.”  
“No doctor on sight.”  
Linda cut in, “Why don’t we come back to that later?”  
Quinn nodded.  
And on and on and on.   
By the end of the hour even Linda’s immaculate bob was showing signs of stress,  
“Okay. Our last topic. Open or closed to the public?”  
Arthur heard himself say closed at the same time as Morgause said open.  
Quinn closed her eyes and Arthur could hear a held back groan.   
"Why would you care if it's open?"  
"All my tournaments are open, good for publicity. You wouldn't want to let down your adoring fans?"  
"I don't have fans. You don't have fans. We have paparazzi and tabloids."  
"Nevertheless. Keep it open."  
"Absolutely not."  
"What's the harm of the public anyway, Pendragon? All press is good press."  
"I do not want cameras on my pack. I do not want this documented."  
"Look. Anyone else I'd let it slide. But not now. And I don't usually give up when I set my mind to something, ask Nimueh. How about this, We keep it open, and I'll let you have your doctor. Agree or not, it doesn't matter, because I'm not leaving until it is open. You do look tired with these negotiations, and I could do this all day."  
Arthur closed his eyes and thought about it. "If someone is gravely injured and cannot fight anymore I want an ambulance on sight to take them to a hospital, not left to die on the ground. Once or if they recover they will join the winner's pack. On that condition only will I allow an open competition."  
Morgause gave a hint of a smile, "Done."  
Quinn was typing frantically on the laptop, “Fine. Now for the final read through.”  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
When Mordred opened the door he froze. He recognized that smell, it was impossible not to. He’d lived with it for almost a year. He debated walking out, if he was smarter he probably would have. But instead he cautiously walked in. Arthur wouldn’t have….would he?  
Mordred stepped into the living room, Morgause wasn’t there, but she had been.  
Arthur came downstairs, “Ah, Mordred. You missed her by an hour.”  
“Why was she-oh. Peace talks.”  
“Peace is no way to describe it.”  
“What happened?”  
“Pack meeting later. Oh also, it’s your turn to make dinner.”  
Mordred went upstairs to take a nap.  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
Morgana took an extra meatball as Arthur sat down. He looked as if he didn’t want to mention the meeting with Morgause. But he still grit his teeth, “So, as many of you have noticed, there was a meeting with Morgause today.”  
Leon set down his glass of water, “Ah, a para bellum. Haven’t heard of those in quite some time.”  
“Well, apparently we’re big enough to deserve one. And formal enough I had to get our backer.”  
“Our backer is that Linda chick, right?” Lance said, with his mouth full.  
“Yes.”  
“Is it?” Gwen’s voice was sharp, “We have not met her.”  
“Linda Hu? It would surprise me if you have not at least heard of her.” Morgana’s tone was mild.  
“I’ve actually worked with her in the past. But it is custom that the pack knows who is backing them, especially in a Tournament.”  
And goddamnit Morgana knew she was right, “Yes. That is true. But we were unable to schedule an appointment with the time constraints we were offered.”  
“The tournament of the century, and she couldn’t make time for us.”  
“She’s a busy woman.”   
Arthur set down his fork, “We should have scheduled a meeting date, you’re correct. But for Morgause, it’s a mix of good news and bad news.”  
Gwaine snorted, “That’s good right? Normally it’s just bad news with her, I guess we’re mixing it up a little.”  
“Tell us the bad news first.” Freya said.  
“Okay so,” Arthur breathed, “It’s a biggie. It’s open to the public.”  
Mordred’s head hit the table, “Awe shit.”  
Merlin’s head whipped around, “Language!”  
Mordred gave Merlin a look that clearly read ‘what the fuck’.  
Leon scratched his beard, “Open to the public. Now that is unfortunate. Is that the end of the bad news?”  
“Yea. Good news includes that we get breaks, one every hour, and an ambulance on sight so hopefully not all of us will die.”  
Gwaine furrowed his brow, “Mate, you need to edit your version of good news.”  
It was still processing for Freya, “So we get a break..one every hour..for a fight that will probably only last 45 minutes, tops?  
“Yes.”  
“And if someone is so injured they cannot fight, an ambulance will hopefully save their lives? And then what happens to them?”  
“They join the winner.”  
“I don’t say this often, but Gwaine is right. Your version of good news sucks.”  
“Well, the situation sucks.”  
“Hey, but you know what doesn’t suck?” Morgana interjected, “You guys. Morgause is a real dick, but it was all really nice getting to know you all even if you might all die tomorrow.”  
Gwaine picked up his drink, “I’ll raise a glass to that.”  
They all clinked glasses, and Arthur wondered how it was possible, that in this entire, catastrophic crazy situation, this pack had made him the most connected he’d felt in a while.  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
Arthur hadn’t called Uther yet. Morgana knew this because she was the one who’d had to listen to Uther rant for thirty minutes. Jesus. Morgana could barely stand to listen to him for a minute. She pitied her father’s underlings right now, they were likely receiving the brunt of the anger.   
Their father was livid. Irate. Furious. On a warpath. But mostly he was desperate. His son was about to lead his pack into sudden death, and he could do nothing about it. It’s horrible, being unable to protect the ones you love. Uther was very good at finding solutions to problems. If he couldn’t think his way out of it, he could work his way out of it. And if both failed, he could always pay his way out of it. But there he was, helpless, unable to anything besides turn on the tv and hope.   
He wouldn’t even call Arthur.  
That was how deep their conflict cut.  
They’d had it out one night. All those repressed emotions bubbling to the surface. She hadn’t been there to sooth the waters, let them see sense. She’d been out taking a holiday with her latest Omega. The Virgin Islands. It was a good vacation. Calm. Very unlike what she returned home to after a panicked call from Arthur.  
She didn’t truly find out what happened that night. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to know. But neither of them would talk about it. Uther disowned Arthur, and Arthur deleted Uther from his life. They would barely even mention the other. It was childish. But they both cared about each other incessantly. Arthur had inherited Uther’s stubbornness, and neither was going to break first. Even if one of them was going to die. Pendragons didn’t compromise.  
But Morgana wasn’t a Pendragon. She was a Le Fay.   
She’d always been one, willing to do what it takes instead of doing what is right.  
So she called Uther on his phone. He picked up after the first ring. “Morgana?”  
“Uther? Can you hold for just a minute?”  
Uther bristled.   
Morgana ran from her soundproof bedroom, lest Arthur get any hint Uther was in his vicinity.  
She knocked, “Arthur? It Nimueh. She wants to make a deal.”  
The door swung open, revealing her brother in pajamas with a toothbrush in one hand, “Nimueh?”  
“Yes.” She handed him the phone.  
“Hello?”  
Uther’s voice sounded over the line, “Arthur?”  
Arthur’s face went whiter than the Oscars. He stared at her in disbelief. Betrayal shown naked on his face. She gave him an apologetic look.  
He opened his mouth to say something. And closed it.   
The line was still silent.  
He tried again. And closed it.  
Uther was seeming to have the same problems..until Morgana heard a gruff voice begin, “It is good to hear your voice.”  
Arthur’s face twisted, and as much as Morgana wanted to respect his privacy, she wanted to know what was going to happen more.  
Arthur’s voice was calm, with an undertone of emotional instability, “How have you been?”   
“I’ve been good.”  
“I'm under the impression that you have had a run in with Morgause.”  
“Yes. Our Tournament is tomorrow.”  
“Can nothing be done to stop it?”  
“It seems as if there is no way out.”  
“That is unfortunate.”  
Arthur shook his head, unfreezing his body. He held out the phone to her, and motioned for her to take it. She shook her head.   
He shook the phone, and she took it, covering the receiver.  
“You need to talk to him.”  
“No, I don’t.”  
“You’re being childish.”  
“I don’t even know how to talk to him. I never have, and I certainly don’t know how to now.”  
“Tell him about the pack. Listen, I know that you know that you need to mend this rift. For god sakes, we could both be dead tomorrow.”  
Arthur snapped, “And you don’t think I know that?”   
He regretted his anger the second the words left his mouth. He never considered himself as being an angry person, it took a lot to wear him down. But Uther brought out a bad side of him. Or maybe Uther was his bad side.   
Morgana’s cool eyes stared at him, “Figure it out Arthur.” She handed him the phone.  
Uther’s tinny voice rang through, “Hello?”  
Arthur pressed the phone to his ear, “Uther. Hello. Sorry about that. Little mishap.”  
“It happens.”  
“The Tournament tomorrow, it’s going to a big one.”  
“Yes, I’m hearing about it all the way across the sea.”  
“How is the company?”  
“We’re still battling Morgana for first place, but we’re getting there.”  
Morgana rolled her eyes and mouthed, “No you’re not.”  
There was a pause, until Uther spoke, “How is your pack?”  
“Ready for tomorrow.”  
“Good. The Omegagrade was a good idea, you doubled your chances of survival in one short fight.”  
“It’s not something I’m proud of.”  
“No, but you needed to do it for survival.”  
“Well..”  
“Tell me, and tell me true. Do you stand a chance tomorrow? Or do I need to mourn the loss of a son as well as a daughter.”  
There was a beat of silence, “We’ve been preparing, day in day out. Our team is strong, and growing stronger everyday. What we need is more time. But, we don’t have it. I honestly cannot tell you the outcome of this, but I know not to underestimate Morgause. If we do die, it will not be without a fight.”  
Morgana was surprised for a second, because every word in that sentence was true.  
She could hear Uther grinding his teeth over the phone, “Arthur, many of the things that were said in the past were inaccurate. You are my only son, and I wish you the best of luck tomorrow.”  
“It means a lot that you say that.” Arthur cleared his throat, “I have to go. It was good talking to you again.”  
He hung up without waiting for a reply.  
Morgana put her hand out, and Arthur plunked her phone into her palm. He still seemed frozen, as if in shock. Or perhaps he was replaying the entire conversation in his mind.   
“You should go to bed.”  
He looked at the time, “It’s eight o' clock.”  
“You look like you could use some sleep.”  
Mostly he looked like he needed some time alone, and Morgana was worried for a second because she might have meddled in an affair that was better left dead. She turned to go.  
“Morgana?”  
“Yes?”  
“Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome.” She closed the door behind her.  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
“Gwaine?” Arthur was knocking at the door.  
“Yea?”  
“Go to bed.”  
“It’s ten at night!”  
“We have to wake up a little before six tomorrow. Our brains need at least six hours of sleep to be fully functioning.”  
“Ugh. Okay.”  
“Have you brushed your teeth?  
“No.”  
“Come do it.”  
“Gimme two minutes.”  
Arthur seeped a little bit of Alpha power into his voice, enough that Gwaine would obey, but not so much that he would notice it was there, “Now.”  
“Fine.”  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
“Tomorrow’s the big day then, isn’t it?” The dragon’s eyes measured them up.  
“Yep. This may be our last meeting.” Merlin said.  
“Well then. If there was ever time for a breakthrough, now would be the time for it.”  
“But we can't stay for too long, Mordred needs sleep.”  
“So do you.”  
Merlin shrugged, “So do I.”  
“Fine. Although what is needed best right now is a good all-nighter, we’ll do three hours.”  
Merlin’s voice was steel, “It's 11:24. We’ll do an hour and then we need to get some rest.”  
“But what if tomorrow we lose because we didn't do enough today?” Mordred said. The dragon grumbled in agreement.  
“What happens tomorrow will happen tomorrow. It's already been written down, according to ole’ killjoy over here. Mordred, we need sleep. We do no one any good falling asleep on the field tomorrow.”  
“Ugh. Fine.” Mordred was resigned.  
The dragon gave a low rumble, “Okay. If that's what you decided. But I'm against it. But we're wasting enough time as it is. Let's begin. As we’re crunched for time we’ll skip the meditation, and go straight to trying to move objects. I want to see if you can move an entire being today.”  
◰ ◱ ◲ ◳  
The dragon had let himself fall into a slight coma when he heard the scraping of feet against rock. For a moment it thought that was Merlin or perhaps Mordred returning. Merlin to work on his magic. Or Mordred because he was simmering in anxiety.  
But the being that was currently descending the crude staircase to his lair was neither of them.  
“Arthur Pendragon. I did not think that I would see you so soon.”  
The Alpha looked at him balefully.  
“Now, don’t give me that look. You and I both know everything has turned out okay.”  
Arthur bit out two words, “So far.”  
“So far indeed. But that is better than it not turning out okay so far. You might not know this, but I’ve met-”  
“I know.”  
“You didn’t even let me finish my sentence.”  
“You have made the acquaintance of Merlin and lately, Mordred.”  
“How did you..?”  
“Please. You think two pack members disappearing in the middle of the night and I wouldn’t notice?”  
“I would have thought you would have barred them from associating with me.”  
Arthur stared at the dragon with resentment and the silence stretched.   
“Oh! I see.” The dragon laughed delightedly, “You still needed Merlin’s magic. You needed Merlin to do what he came here to do, even if the entire affair disgusted you.”  
Arthur said nothing, and the dragon continued, “Well. I shan’t ridicule too much about it, even though I would love to, for hours. But you must have had a reason for coming here. Something that mattered to you more than that obnoxious Pendragon pride of yours. Just a shot in the dark but I’m guessing it has something to do with the little spat between you and Morgause tomorrow. So, it’s about your pack. Perhaps you need something for a spell to bind you all closer together. But no. Your pack is coming together just fine. You need advice. And you needed it so much that you were willing to return to the beast who, if I remember correctly you ended the last meeting with, ‘you selfish fucking disaster.’”  
Arthur ground his teeth, “It is true I was not particularly please with you at our last encounter. But it was not unjustified. You acted like a self-centered prick. I cannot take back my words.”  
“Nor would I ask you to. I didn’t just act like a self-centered prick though, I am one. I've been trapped here for a millennial. I need to get out. I gave you advice to Omegagrade Merlin when just a simple defeat would have worked fine. I admit, I shouldn’t have told you that I only did it because it was predicted an Omega would break my bonds.”  
“Shouldn’t have told me? You shouldn’t have given me bad advice in the first place.”  
“Oh no. I didn’t give you bad advice at all. You needed to absorb another pack to give you a snowball’s chance in hell of beating Morgause. I felt there was an Alpha with an undercurrent of magic so strong, it would be a crime not to meet him. So I recommend him. And now look what you have, a working pack, that just might be able to beat Morgause tomorrow.”  
“And you have hope of getting out of your chains. All at the price of self-esteem.”  
“Unimportant.”  
“I don’t think you understand how degrading and humiliating the entire ordeal was. And finding out the entire thing wasn’t necessary at all? It was too much.”  
“I just talked to Merlin. He seemed fine.”  
“That doesn’t make it okay.”  
“You came here for something? Advice?”  
“Yes. I need anything I can to beat Morgause tomorrow.”  
“Interesting. You still come to me.”  
“Well, as much as I hate to admit it, you know things. And even if you give me advice I still have the choice to follow it, or not follow it. But this time I’m going to do it my way, according to my morals.”  
The dragon gave a smile, “Very well. Watch your left flank.”  
The dragon rearranged himself, so he was curled in a half circle, chin resting on a boulder. Arthur waited for more. There was silence.  
“Is that it?”  
“Yes.”  
“What?”  
“Yes. I’m sorry, that’s all I can tell you.”  
“You can’t tell me if anyone dies. Who lives? Does Morgause win?”  
“I’ve heard a saying that the best way to see tomorrow is by going to bed tonight. It’s late. I heard you little creatures need your rest, as I was reminded by Merlin today. What time is it anyway?”  
“2:34”  
“It doesn’t matter, time is meaningless anyway. Get some sleep. I hope this is not our last meeting.”  
The dragon closed it’s eyes and Arthur got the feeling he could talk all he wanted, no one was going to listen to him.


	17. And so it goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> mmm whatcha say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to clarify I named this chapter after the song, not the movie.

Breakfast was a subdued affair. Not that she’d been expecting anything differently. Freya would be worried if everyone was by any expression happy right now. Additionally it was six in the morning so most of them were half asleep. Arthur had gone to wake the people who were still asleep. It was french toast for breakfast. It wasn’t particularly good french toast, in her opinion. Morgana didn’t seem to like cooking. It could be worse though. She could have been the one to make it.  
Arthur walked down the stairs with the last of the sleepy-heads-it was Mordred-, “We meet them at eight o’ clock.”  
She was glad he wasn’t trying to give them any speeches or pep talks. He most likely felt the futility as well as he sat mechanically got his food.  
Haltingly, conversation began in dull murmurs.   
Merlin and her discussed how to deal with annoying children.   
Slowly, people finished up.  
“Okay, Right before you go. I should warn you, there are crowds and press outside waiting on the field, so do not be surprised when you see them. Meet in the kitchen at 7:45. I hardly need to tell you to wear fight-appropriate clothing. I may need to tell you to bring hope. See you then.”  
Freya didn’t remember what she did for that hour in between. It was a blur of talking and saying goodbye to inanimate objects. She didn’t call her parents. If she did she would cry, and that couldn’t happen right now. She had always thought for some reason she’d live to a bright old age, but the certainty now was that she would die. She’d looked at their odds, it would take a miracle to survive this.  
At 7:45 they were all there, spick and span, ready to fight.

Arthur held the door for his pack to go outside and stretch. Merlin was the last out and Arthur caught his arm before he walked through, “Hey.”  
Merlin looked at him.  
“I’m really sorry. For dragging you into this.”  
Merlin stared at him and nodded.

Arthur led a ten minute stretch. And then they walked over there. Freya didn’t know who was put in charge of the crowds, or the negotiations with the press, but it was done beautifully. There were barriers put up the appropriate distance away, no one was jostling them for questions.  
Freya was glad she wasn’t the Alpha here.

Both parties arrived at 8 o’ sharp. Morgause’s pack got out of their car’s with the utmost order and walked over to their designated station all in step.  
Arthur’s pack just sorta followed him to the place marked.

8:15  
Last chance to negotiate. Arthur and Morgause walked forward to the middle of the field where the backers were standing.  
Linda was reading, “You have five minutes to discuss your case. If a peace can be reached with that time both of you will raise your right hand in the hair. If it cannot, you will walk back to your pack and the match will commence.” The backers left.  
And Arthur was facing Morgause. Alone.  
She stared at him. If there was any malice in her stare it was hidden.  
And then she turned around.  
“Wait. What are you doing?”  
“I’m going back to my pack to begin this thing.”  
“We haven’t even talked.”  
“That’s the point.”  
Morgause began to turn away again and Arthur’s mind whirled. He had to keep her talking. Had to delay. Had to make her see his point of view. So he said the thing he’d been wondering for a while, “What do you want?”  
Morgause whipped around and Arthur was surprised he’d gotten her attention so quickly with just that question.  
She stared at him for a moment, something unreadable in her expression, “What I...want?”  
“Yes.”  
She narrowed her eyes, “Elaborate.”  
“We all want something. Some want big things like fame or money. Some want small things like pack and love. I want my pack safe and together. But what do you want?”  
“It seems I want your pack in danger and apart.”  
“Ah. So there is where we have our differences.” And after a beat, “What do you get out of this?”  
“You’ll have to be better than that to get a direct answer from me.”  
Arthur rubbed his eyes. He was tired, “What’s the point anymore Morgause? This is it. The conclusion, the climax, the finale, whatever you want to call it. There’s no point in lying, in smooth riddles, or power plays.”  
Silence. He wasn’t going to talk her out of this, Arthur knew that. He knew their background. But he just wanted to know why she was so goddamn intent on murdering a bunch of people she knew nothing about.   
She opened her mouth, “Revenge. There’s my reason. Plain and simple. I lived with my mother in abject poverty for a very short time of my life. And she told me of your father. The deeds he had done. And when she was sick, and we were lying there, the smell of vomit and fever thick in the air, she told me that one day I was going to be great, and when I was, that I would send Uther Pendragon to the depths of hell.”  
“So why go after me?”  
“Oh, Arthur. You haven’t noticed yet? I’m not going after you. I’m going after the people you love. That’s the easiest way to get to people. Love is a weakness. Uther is sitting pretty on top of his throne. But he loves a son and a daughter. And the son and the daughter love a pack. I get rid of that pack, I get rid of Uther.”  
Arthur clenched his fist. He turned to look at that pack. His pack. And back to Morgause, “I think we’re done here.”  
“I think we are.”  
And he walked back to his pack.

8:25  
“Alright.” Arthur’s jaw was twitching, “We all know who we’re going after?”  
Morgana rolled her eyes, “Yes. We’ve been over it half a dozen times.”  
8:28  
Gwen leaned on Merlin’s shoulder, “I love you, ya know.”  
Merlin petted her hair, “I know.”  
8:29  
Arthur didn't break eye contact with the enemy, “It’s been a pleasure getting to know all of you. I’ll see you on the other side.”  
And then the horn sounded.

It was chaos. As every fight had been for Elyan. You can plan all you want, create google docs, and charts, and assign specific people to fight other specific people. But when any plan is put to the test during an actual fight? It falls apart. All Elyan had right now were his instincts and his one hope: that his sister would get out of this alive.

Finding Cenred was no difficult problem for Merlin. The Alpha beelined toward him. So perhaps Morgause had assignments as well?  
He didn’t dwell on the thought.  
Cenred bared his yellow teeth, “It’s the pretty Omega again.”  
Merlin didn’t let him get the first move. He lashed out with his claws, but Cenred moved faster and Merlin managing only a nick on the leg.   
“Getting feisty, aren't we?”  
And then all Merlin could do was focus on not getting killed.

Lance was managing to hold his own against the hulking mass of Alpha he was faced with. He sliced his claws through her upper arm, not a deep wound, but nonetheless he was still proud of himself.  
He faced her, and smirked, “Alright. Shall we continue?”  
She smiled and Lance was confused for a second. And then he turned around. Another Alpha.  
Both began to circle around him and he was certain of only one thing. This was going to hurt. 

Freya forgot any skill or flash she’d ever possessed and blatantly shoved against the wall of Alpha against her. Tumbling; they went down, and then Freya realized she had it. Her shot. She focused on the blood vessel, unprotected and giving so much energy to the brain. All she would have to do was sever it. She should do it. It was a miracle she was still alive, a mixture of chance and luck. But instead of moving...she hesitated. And it gave the Alpha enough time to get to his feet.

From the start Morgana had the intention of protecting her brother. Go for Morgause. Kill Morgause the entire thing is over. Getting to the whirl of Arthur and Morgause fighting was a bit more difficult than planned. Every time she took a step toward them another Alpha would appear. Which is to say, she’d only taken two steps in the right direction. She was on her second kill, the first one already lying dead beneath her feet.

Gwaine distantly realized a clawed hand was aimed straight for his head. It was coming too fast to duck, too fast to block, too fast for Gwaine to do anything but wince and prepare himself for the impact.  
He closed his eyes.   
And then nothing happened.  
He turned to look. Percy’s hand was holding the Alpha who might have killed him.  
Gwaine got a sense of grim satisfaction as he strangled the Alpha to death.

Leon wasn't sure if he was going to win this one. He was already bleeding heavily and his opponent-Isolde?-didn't even look winded. Leon wished he could run away or even signal for help. But right now, all there was to do was attack. Or block mostly, because Leon couldn't even seem to touch the alpha in front of him.  
Well, if he was ever going to scrape up the courage to attack, now would be the time.  
Leon dove. Go for the hamstrings. Those are the muscles that are instrumental for standing. Maybe if his opponent couldn't walk them he would stand a chance.  
Leon dove. His opponent threw a right hook. It landed him squarely on the eye. Everything went black.

Fighting Morgause was pure instinct. Arthur didn't have time to plan ahead. She moved like a force of nature. Arthur didn't think. He moved. He prayed it would be enough.

Mordred was fighting against Odin. Which was a pretty shitty thing too, because not only was it not in the plan, he'd barely ever managed to defeat him in combat before during their practices. Deep breath. He could do this. He had a pack now, people that supported him. He’d gotten into a college. He had a future. He had things to do. Motherfuckers to prove wrong. If there was ever a time to kick ass, now would be the time.

Gwen was on her second. She let the first one live. He was being carried off by the paramedics. But now she was fighting Nimueh. Elyan fought beside her, but he was already fighting two at once.  
But he still noticed when she fell.

Mordred killed Odin with a ragged stab of his claws through his heart. Panting, he looked around.   
He saw Morgause run her claws though Arthur's left flank like it was butter, and watched Nimueh bite down on Gwen's neck. He saw Morgana’s eyes widen and Elyan’s face twist into grief. And then Mordred could see exactly what was about to happen. and faster than he'd ever moved in his life, he blurred toward Morgause. Instantly Morgause was on him, but Mordred fought. Harder than he'd ever in his life. He blocked and swerved he ducked and attacked. It felt like minutes in what could only have been seconds. And then in a moment, he realized he had an opening. An opening to end it all. A free set of fangs and Morgause’s neck was unguarded, and he took his shot.  
But as he leaned foreword to wrap his fangs around her esophagus, her claws pierced his heart and ran him though.   
Perhaps he knew they were there when he'd taken his chance.  
He didn't release from her neck and she didn't stop gutting him.   
But it was she who stopped struggling first.

Merlin saw Arthur go down. Saw him as Morgause ran her claws through his left flank. But he couldn’t run to the Alpha. Couldn’t because a big lumbering ugly lump of Alpha was running at him. Sneering as flecks of spittle went in all direction.  
“Maybe I won’t kill you, little one. I’ll knock you out and let the paramedics get you. Then we’ll be able to keep you. I bet Morgause would even let me wrap you up sometimes like a present.”  
Merlin dug his claws into his cheek. And miraculously, he did it all without the effort of opening his mouth. 

“Fuck.” Morgana watched her brother become a shish kebab on Morgause’s claws. 

“Oh god.” Elyan watched his sister crumple to the floor. He could hear her heartbeat so she was still alive. But there was blood… So much blood. And Nimueh was about to finish the job.

“No.” Merlin watched as Morgause and Mordred tangled. And suddenly Mordred was falling to the ground.

And everything was happening so fast it was just a blur but all of a sudden Merlin looked around and all his friends were dying. They needed help. And they needed it bad. And all of a sudden he could feel the barriers in his mind crumble and all his magic rushed forth, ready to do his bidding. So Merlin reached out for help, stretched it all the way to a very old presence in a hidden cave underneath the earth. It was constrained by a puzzle, an impossible puzzle to finish, Merlin saw that now. What he needed to find, there was one spot. One spot that if he could just find...there. The weakest point. And Merlin blasted it. And the chain was gone.  
Suddenly Merlin came back to himself, dazed.  
The ground was rumbling, and those that weren't fighting were looking around worriedly.   
Merlin crawled to Mordred.  
He was choking on his own blood.  
“Hey. Hey, you're okay.”  
“Haha. Fat chance.” Mordred’s voice was a whimper.  
“Help is on its way, I promise.”  
And just as predicted, a motherfucking dragon soared through the sky and landed in the middle of the yard.  
The press stopped shoving, the cameras stopped flashing. The Alphas and Betas and Omegas stopped fighting. And for a second everything was absolutely silent as people stared in awe.  
The dragon landed. Right in the middle of the field.  
Merlin didn’t notice.  
“You’re okay Mordred. I promise. Everything about you is okay. You’re alive. You have so much to live for, remember? Graduation. College.” Merlin’s voice cracked.  
“Yea.” Mordred coughed raggedly, “Yea. I know. A whole future.” His voice was a weak whimper.  
“Yep. That’s right. Laid out in front of you like a giant tapestry." He was vaguely aware of the moisture coming from his eyes. “Please.” He thought. “If there is a god, let this one live.”  
Merlin wiped at his eye."All you have to do is stay alive.”   
“Easier said than done.” Mordred’s voice faded.  
“Well, warlock?” The dragon was staring at him.  
Merlin looked up, tears staining his face.  
“You called.”  
Merlin looked down at the body in his arms. There was no heartbeat.  
He raised his head to the dragon, tears brimming in his eyes. But he was angry now. Angrier than he’d ever been in his life. He opened his mouth, “Kill.”  
The dragon nodded, waves of satisfaction rolling off him, “As you wish.”  
He took to the air and Merlin had only seconds to unleash a protective spell on the people he cared about before fire rained down.   
He hoped the reporters had the sense to run away.  
Mordred’s blood was still dripping on his hands and Merlin stood up. He had put a shield over Morgause. He walked over to her body. Dead. Mordred had gotten her. He felt the grim bite of regret that he hadn’t been the one to do it before removing the shield. A hot blast of fire enveloped the body.  
And suddenly the fire stopped.  
Slowly the world bled back into focus.   
Arthur raised his head from where he was crouching on the ground. Underneath him he felt grass. It surrounded him in a neat circle. From his vantage point he could see other member’s of his pack slowly looking around and realizing they were alive. And some that didn’t look quite so alive.  
A dragon stood in the middle of the field staring at a slight figure that radiated power.  
All the alphas were gone. Incinerated.  
And Arthur realized in that second, that they had won.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry?


End file.
